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THE
BALLAD MINSTRELSY
SCOTLAND.
ROMANTIC AND HISTORICAL.
COLLATED AND ANNOTATED.
^adlner, '^^oj^^c
GLASGOW:
MAURICE OGLE AND COMPANY.
GLASGOW:
PRINTED BV BELL AND BAIN,
41 MITCHELL STREET.
PREFATORY NOTE.
The Flotsam of our old Traditionary Ballad Lore, which came drifting down the Stream of Time — much of it starting no one knows when, and coming from no one knows where — was diligently sought after and collected from time to time by those who took pleasure therein, or who sought to derive profit therefrom.
Beginning with Chepman and Myllor, whose issues have been so admirably reproduced in facsimile by that still — and long may he continue to be so — hale and efficient veteran Editor and illustrator of our Ancient Scotish Literature, Mr. David Laing.*
Passing over the greater and darker portion of the long dark night of civil broil and literary darkness which settled down on Scotland during the reigns of the later Stuarts, we come towards its close, and, as the harbinger of the dawn of a brighter period, to Watson, the celebrated " undertaker " of several elegantly printed national works, whose Choice Collection of Comic and Serious Scots Poems has been pro- duced in facsimile under the auspices of the publishers of this work.+ Watson i)robably stimulated, aud certainly was followed immediately after by Ramsay, who, in his turn, was followed at intervals by others whose names are recorded in the bead-roll of fame with which the General Introduction to this work terminates.
Motherwell, after stating "that of every old traditionary ballad known, there exists what may be called different versions," next proceeds to classify and describe the different modes of editing them which had been practised by different Ballad Editors, thus : —
1st. He who contents "himself with merely selecting that one of his copies which appeal's the most complete and least vitiated."
2nd. He who, "by selecting the most beautiful and striking passages which present themselves in " two or more versions, "suc- ceeds in producing from the conflicting (?) texts of his various authorities a third version, more perfect and ornate than any indi- vidual one as it originally stood."
3rd. He or they "who, under no authority of written or recited copy, but merely to gratify [his or] their own insatiate rage for innovation and improvement, recklessly and injudiciously cut and carve as they list, on these productions, and in some cases entirely re-write them. "
4th. "There is yet another class of old Song Editors," or rather Forgers, on "whose dishonest propensities" Mr. Motherwell pours the scorching vials of his sarcastic scorn. J
It is a sad commentary on human consistency to state, and that on the authority of evidence furnished by himself, that the theory of Mr. Motherwell, who highly commends the firgt, and unqualifiedly condemns the three other " modes," is at variance with his practice ; as it can easily be shown from Mr. Motherwell's own statements,
* Edinburgh, mdcccxxvii. t Glasgow, 1869.
X Motherwell's Minstrelsy, Introduction, pp. vi.-ix.
11889G5
PREFATORY NOTE.
that he carefully collated — in accordance with his definition of class •2nd* — every previously unprinted Ballad of which more than one set came into his possession, and which he thought worthy of a place in his Minstrels'/.
The Editor of the present work has followed in the same, and, as he regards it, commendable path, going, however, a step further, although quite in the same direction, by removing what appeared to be obvious inconsistencies and errors introduced through the ignorance or lapse of memory of oral reciters ; in performing which delicate and difficult work, it is not at all necessary to deface or vitiate the ancient Story which the Ballad tells; because, as is "granted" by even Mr. Motherwell himself, "the ' expressions and allusions' of these compositions fluctuate, and that frequently; but these changes never alter entirely the venerable aspect of the whole ballad. It is like repairing gradually the weather-worn face of an ancient cathedral by the insertion here and there of a freshly-hewn stone, as need may require. The outline of the building and the effect of the whole remain unchanged. "f
The work of Restoration, however, necessarily brings the llestorer within the scope of criticism ; and amid the gi-eat diversities of tastes which prevail, it would be passing strange if some were not very far from being satisfied with respect to many points, and few or none thoroughly pleased with regard to all.
It is probable that some portions have been rejected which should have been retained, and others retained which should have been rejected; but it is consoling to know that nothing has been destroyed, and that those who wish to gaze u[)on the originals, in all their rugged and fragmentary simplicity, may find in this work a complete and ready reference to the different versions of the various ballads.
In conclusion, the Editor has to express his indebtedness, and to tender his thanks, to Dr. Patrick Buchan — son of the eminent collector to whoso zeal and industry Scotish Ballad Literature is so largely in- debted, as this work so amply testifies — for the kind and patriotic interest which he has manifested in this collection in the course of its progress through the press, nearly the whole of the proof sheets of the First Part having been submitted to him, and returned with many valuable suggestions and emendations. The removal of Dr. Buchan to England has, miich to the Editor's regret, deprived him of the same valuable advice aud assistance in the Second Part; but he is glad to learn that Dr. Buchan, although far from being well, has made considerable progress towards the completion of a work on the Proverbs of Scotland, as illustrated and explained by similar proverbs cun-ent among the people of other nations, by etymological definitions, by literary quotations, and by Scotish Anecdotes aud Stories.
The Editor has also to acknowledge his indebtedness to Messrs. (jrriffin & Co., Publishers, London, for permission to include "The Brave Earl Brand and the King of England's Daughter, " post, p. 32.
* For example, see post, p. 125, and post, p. 432. t Motherwell's Minstrelsy, Introduction, p. xi.
TiLASGOW, March, 1871.
CONTENTS.
PAGE
INTRODUCTION, ~ ix
ALISON GROSS, 21$
ANDREW LAMMIE 625
ANNAN WATER, 605
ARCHIE OF CA'FIELD, 588
ARMSTRONG'S GOOD-NIGHT 592
AS I WENT ON AE MONDAY I96
AULD MAITLAND, 4OI
BINNORIE, 295
BONNIE ANNIE, 342
BONNIE GEORGE CAMPBELL, ....... 529
BONNIE SUSIE CLELLAND, 78
BOTHWELL, 22/
BROWN ADAM, 339
BROWN ROBYN'S CONFESSION, ........ 34I
BURD HELEN, 4 . . . 24O
CHIL ETHER, 25I
CHILD ROWLAND AND BURD ELLEN, 207
CLERK COLVILL AND THE MERMAID, 212
CLERK SAUNDERS 44
CLERK TAMMAS, ....».».. 268
COSPATRICK, 222
DICK O' THE COW, 570
DUKE OF Perth's three daughters, 312
EARL RICHARD, . 232
EARL RICHARD'S DAUGHTER, . 4 1 33
EDOM O' GORDON, 515
EDWARD ! EDWARD ! 293
ERLINTON, 26
FAIR Annie's ghost 267
FAIR ANNIE OF LOCHRYAN I
PAUSE FOODRAGE 128
FINE FLOWERS IN THE VALLEY, ...... 285
GEORDIE , . . . 654
GILDEROY, 632
GIL MORICE, 313
VI BALLAD MINSTRELST OF SCOTLAND.
PAGE
GLENKINDIE, 256
GLENLOGIE, ^06
GUDE WALLACE, 418
HARDYKNUTE, 357
HOBBIE NOBLE, 583
HYNDE ETIN, igg
HYNDE HORN, I25
HUGHIE THE GRiEME 495
JAMIE TELFER OF THE FAIR DODHEAD 564
JELLON GRAME, 335
JOCK O' THE SIDE, ... 578
JOHNNIE ARMSTRANG, . 487
JOHNNIE OF BREADISLEE, 47I
JOHNNIE FAA 6x6
JOHNNIE SCOT 432
JOHN THOMSON AND THE TURK, 252
KATHERINE JANFARIE, 85
KEMPY KAYE, 220
KEMP OWYNE; OR, KEMPION, 21
KINMONT WILLIE, 555
KING HENRIE, 217
KING MALCOLM AND SIR COLVINE, 150
LADYE ANNE 3O4
LADY ANNE BQTHWELL'S BALOW, ....... 6X2
LADY ELSPAT 39
LADY ISABEL x6
LADY ISABEL AND THE ELF KNIGHT, X65
LADY MAISRY, 74
LAMENT FOR FLODDEN, 476
LANG JOHNNIE MOIR 648
LEESOME BRAND, 59
LORD BEICHAN AND SUSIE PYE XI2
LORD DONALD, 3°^
LORD INGRAM AND CHILDE VYET, 80
LORD LUNDIE'S DAUGHTER AND SQUIRE WILLIAM, ... 89
LORD maxwell's GOOD-NIGHT, 593
LORD RANDAL, 3^5
LORD THOMAS AND FAIR ANNIE, I03
LORD THOMAS OF WINESBERRY, 44^
LORD WILLIAM, 27O
MAY COLVINE AND FAUSE SIR JOHN, X59
PRINCE ROBERT, , . . . IJ
CONTENTS. Vll
PAGE
PROUD LADY MARGARET AND THE COURTEOUS KNIGHT, . 1 77
RARE WILLIE DROWNED IN YARROW, 603
REEDISDALE AND WISE WILLIAM, 246
ROSE THE RED AND WHITE LILY, 327
SIR CAWLINE, 156
SIR HUGH LE BLOND, ' 347
SIR HUGH AND THE JEW's DAUGHTER, 352
SIR JAMES THE ROSE, ...,...., 478
SIR PATRICK SPENS, 368
SIR ROLAND, I7I
SIR WILLIAM WALLACE, . __ 412
SWEET WILLIE AND FAIR JANET, 67
SWEET WILLIE AND FAIR ANNIE, 261
SWEET WILLIE AND LADY MARGERIK, . . . .'.41
SWEET WILLIAM'S GHOST, .../... 50
TAMLANE, 186
TAMMIE DOODLE, I98
THE BATTLE OF BALRINNES, 538
THE BATTLE OF CORICHIE, 503
THE BATTLE OF HARLAW (EVERGREEN VERSION), . . . 443
THE BATTLE OF HARLAW (TRADITIONARY VERSION), . . 450
THE BATTLE OF OTTERBOURNE 424
THE BATTLE OF ROSLINE, 42O
THE BENT SAE BROWN, 35
THE piRTH OF ROBIN HOOD, 322
THE BONNIE BANKS OF FORDIE, 3IO
THE BONNIE EARL OF MURRAY, 53O
THE BRAVE EARL BRAND AND THE KING OF ENGLAND'S DAUGHTER, 32
THE BROOM BLOOMS BONNIE AND SAYS IT IS FAIR, . . 62
THE BROOMFIELD HILL, 229
THE BUCHANSHIRE TRAGEDY; OR, SIR JAMES THE ROSS, . 481
THE CLERKS OF OXENFORD, 53
THE CRUEL BROTHER, . . 286
THE CRUEL MOTHER, 3OO
THE DEMON LOVER, 167
THE DOUGLAS TRAGEDY, . 29
THE DOWIE DENS OF YARROW, 599
THE DROWNED LOVERS; OR, WILLIE AND ]HAY MARGARET, . 9
THE DUKE OF GORDON'S DAUGHTER, 548
THE EARL OF DOUGLAS AND DAME OLIPHANT, ... 63
THE EARL OF MAR'S DAUGHTER, 98
THE EARL OF MURRAY, 53I
BALLAD MINSTRELSY OF SCOTLAND.
PACE
THE ELFIN KNIGHT, l8l
THE ENCHANTED RING, I43
THE FIRE OF FRENDRAUGHT, 619
THE GAY GOS-HAWK, 93
THE HEIR OF LINNE (PERCY MS. VERSION) 636
THE HEIR OF LINNE (TRADITIONARY VERSION), . , , 64I
THE knight's GHOST, I75
THE LADS OF WAMPHRAY, 552
THE LAIRD O' LOGIE, 532
THE LAIRD OF MUIRHEAD, 475
THE LAMENT OF THE BORDER WIDOW, . . . . . 493
THE LAIRD OF WARISTOUN 607
THE LOCHMABEN HARPER, 50O
THE MAID AND FAIRY, 185
THE MERMAID, . . 214
THE miller's son, I39
THE NEW-SLAIN KNIGHT, 345
THE queen's MARIE, ........ 509
THE RAID OF THE REIDSWIRE, 52 1
THE SANG OF THE OUTLAW MURRAY, 459
THE TWA BROTHERS 288
THE TWA CORBIES, 343
THE WATER O' WEARIE'S WELL, 1 64
THE YOUNG LAIRD OF OCHILTREE, 535
THE WEE, WEE MAN, . -193
THE WIFE OF USHER'S WELL, 57
THOMAS OF ERCILDOUNE, . 39I
THOMAS THE RHYMER — PART I., . . . . . . 374
THOMAS THE RHYMER— PART II. 380
THOMAS O' YONDERDALE, . I09
WILLIE'S FATAL VISIT, 1 74
WILLIE'S LADYE, 1 8
WILLIE MACINTOSH; OR, THE BURNING OF AUCHINDOUN, . 537
WILLIAM AND MARGARET (BY DAVID MALLET), . . . 645
WIT AT NEED, 49
YOUNG BEARWELL, . 249
YOUNG BEKIE I20
YOUNG BENJIE, 281
YOUNG HASTINGS, 2o6
YOUNG JOHNSTONE, 277
YOUNG RONALD, I46
YOUNG WATERS, 454
GENERAL INTRODUCTION.
Ballads may be described as short narrative poems, each celebrating some real or fancied event, and suitable for singing or chanting to some simple natural melody. They often are, but ought not to be, confounded with songs, which, properly speaking, are the more polished and artistic vehicles of " senti- ment, expression, or even description." '
Ballads may therefore be reasonably regarded as the earlier, nay, probably, as the very earliest, form of literary composition,* and more especially as the earliest expression of the Historic Muse ; an opinion eloquently set forth and amply illustrated by Lord Macaulay, in the preface to his Lays of Ancient Rome.
The same, or a similar opinion, appears to have commended itself to other distinguished writers a,nd scholars, as the following quotations indicate.
The Booh of Jasher, quoted by name in two of the Earlier Historic Books of The Bible, and probably still more largely incorporated in their narratives, is, by an eminent Biblical scholar and critic, described as " apparently a national collection, in the form of ballads, containing the record of great men and great deeds."*
Homer, the historian of the Trojan War, " though the early poet of a rude age," writes Sir Walter Scott, " has purchased for the era he has celebrated, so much reverence, that not daring to bestow on it the term barbarous, we distinguish it as the heroic period ; " and though " no other poet (sacred and inspired authors excepted) ever did,'or ever will, possess the same influence over posterity, in so many distant lands, as has been acquired by the blind old man of Chios, yet we are assured that his works, collected by the pious care of Pisistratus, who caused to be united into their present form those divine poems, would otherwise, if preserved at all, have appeared to succeeding generations in the humble state of a collection of detached ballads, connected only as referring to the same age, the same
1 Kitson's Historical Essay on National Song, prefixed to English Songs.
* "The Narrative Ballad we believe to be the oldest of all compositions; and we are not induced to alter our opinion by aU that has been said of love and innocence, and of golden, pastoral, and patriarchal ages." — B. Jamieson, in Illustrations of Northern Antiquities, Popular Ballads, Introduction, p. 237.
* Biblical Cyclopxdia, edited by John Eadie, D.D., LL.D., &c., article " Jasher."
GENERAL INTRODUCTION.
general subjects, and the same cycle of heroes, like the metrical poems of the Cid in Spain, or of Robin Hood in England." ^
Among the Latins, "In the middle of the third century B.C., we have a few trenchant relics of the Saturninian epic of NsBvius celebrating the main events of the first, and the more polished hexameters of Ennius celebrating the Second Punic War. But they are rather reflections after the event than incentives to action. Ennius, however, elsewhere alludes to the existence of older writers, or an earlier literature which had treated of the same or similar themes in a more popular style : and Oicero, in his ' Brutus,' quoting the passage, laments the loss of those more primitive strains. From these and other passages Macaulay, building on a theory of Niebuhr's, has imagined that a whole series of Roman national ballads, . . . had existed and passed away previous to the date of the Punic Wars. He maintains that these early poems were expelled from poetic literature by the flowing tide of Greek influence (which passed over Latium as that of the Norrnans did over England), but that the substance of them is preserved in the more fanciful pages of Livy. . . .
" The first light that falls on the Gothic race all over Europe, by the shores of the Baltic, or under the shadow of the Hartz, reveals the old singers along with the old soldiers exalted by the same apotheosis into gods and heroes. The Norwegian chiefs took their harpers with them to battle, and when the Norse armies invaded England they used to pass free from camp to camp.
"The earliest ballads — as the lays out of which grew the * Nibelungen Lied,' the ' Song of Roland,' the * Death Song of Regner Lodbrog,' half the Eddas, [and] the old Norse legend of the ' Sword Tyrfing,^ . . belong to the Pagan period of our own history, and that of the countries with which we were most closely connected.
" Their general character of wild defiance is admirably represented in Mr. Longfellow's ' Challenge of Thor,' and Mr. Motherwell's ' Sword Chaunt of Thorstein Raudi.' [But] the Conquest broke the stream of our early minstrelsy, [and] the more elaborate Romance took the place of the Ballad among the higher circles."*
The view expressed in the last sentence fully accords with that advanced by Mr. Motherwell, who argues, "that the Romance of Chivalry was the legitimate descendant of the
1 Sir Walter Scott's Introductory Remarks on Popular Poeti-y, &c., prefixed to Mintirelsy of the Scottish Border, edit. 183U.
2 Professor Nichol, of Glasgow University, in a recent Lecture ou " War Songs," as reiwrted in the Glasgow Newspaper Press.
GENERAL INTRODUCTION,
Heroic Ballad.* The heroes whom the minstrels chose for their versifications, were uniformly selected from those worthies of antiquity whose names and famous actions the traditions and ancient songs of the land still kept in remembrance. These, again, were occasionally supplanted by others who flourished in more recent times ; and even contemporary warriors at last came in for their share of adulation, and of that glory with which the muse can arrest and halo an otherwise fleeting name. But the origin of Romantic* Fiction, instead of being thus sought for in the traditions of each particular land where it obtained, and being looked upon as the natural intellectual growth of that land, at a certain stage of its progress towards refine- ment and the courtesies of life; and as, step by step, advancing from the simple narrative ballad to the more elaborate composi- tion, which embraced a variety of such narratives, and at length bourgeoned and branched out into all those complicated and fictitious adventures, and singular poetic creations, for which the Metrical Romance is distinguished, has, with much learning and ingenuity, been by different writers traced to a variety of opposite and contradictory sources. One hath assigned it a Scandinavian,' another an Arabian,* a third an Armorican origin;* while others have claimed this distinction for Nor*
1 Dr. Leyden, on the other hand, supposes that "many of the wild romantic ballads which are stiU common in the Lowlands of Scotland, have the appearance of episodes which, in the progress of traditional recitation, have been detached from the romances of which they originally formed a part" — Complaint, Preliminary DissertatioD, p. 271. This may have occurred in some instances, but seems to have been the exception, and the other the rule.
3 " Under the head of RoMANTic,'a phrase we are obliged to employ for lack of some"- thing more significant and precise, may be ranged a numerous and highly interesting body of short metrical tales, chiefly of a tragic complexion, which, though possessing all the features of real incident and probably originating in fact, cannot now, after the lapse of many ages, be with certamty traced to any historical source, pubUc or private. With these may also be classed that description of Ancient Song which treats of incredible achievements, and strange adventures by flood and field, — deals largely with the marvellous in all its multiform aspects, — and occasionally pours a brief but intense glare of supernatural light over those dim and untravelled realms of doubt and dread, whose every nook the giant superstition of elder days has colonized with a prodigal profusion of mysterious and spiritual inhabitants. And, in short, under this comprehensive head, we must include every legend relating to person, place, thing, or occurrence, to establish whose existence it would be vain to seek for other evidence than that which popular tradition supplies." — Motherwell's Minstrdsy, Introduction, p. iv.
Sir Walter Scott's definition of the word " Eomance " is : — "A fictitious narrative in prose or verse, the interest of which turns upon marvellous and uncommon incidents ; " but "the word 'Romance,' in its original meamng, signifies merely one or other of the popular dialects of Europe, founded, as almost all those dialects were, upon the Boman tongue, that is, upon the Latin." — Essay on Romance. First pubUshed in the Supplement to the Encyclopxdia Britannica [1824], and now Included in his Miscellaneous Works, vol. vi., p. 129.
3 By Mallet, by his translator Bishop Percy, and by Pinkerton.
4 " By Warburton, in his remarks on Love's Labour Lost, and supported with copious illustritions by Warton, in his Preliminary Dissertation to the History of English i'oetry."— Leyden.
5 Favoured by Dr. Leyden in his Preliminary Dissertation to The Complaynt of Scotland.
GENERAL INTRODUCTION.
mandy and Provence."' ["And a later system, patronized by later authors, has derived them, in a great measure, from the Fragments of Classical Superstition which continued to be pre- served after the fall of the Koman empire."] * " To examine into the merit of these respective hypotheses is foreign from our present purpose ; but to ascribe to any one of them the sole origin of that stupendous fabric of poetical invention which delighted the Middle Ages, would be as foolish as the shep- herd's thought, who, after tracing with affectionate fondness the windings of his slender native stream, till he found it termi- nate in the ocean sea, deemed the boundless expanse of waters before him no other than the accumulations of the small well- spring, which, in the solitude of the far uplands, he knew full well, did morning and evening hum its tiny song, and gush with the gladness of new-born life, in a silver-like thread, down the dark hill side. Each of the systems, it is true, does in part account for this species of poetic compositions; but it would require them all blended together to obviate every objection which applies to each singly."^
Nor would even this suflBce, as the flood of light more recently thrown upon comparative philology and mythology by that distinguished scholar Max MuUer, and by other labourers in the same interesting and important field, reveals the broader and truer doctrine of later times, which carries back the date of much of this wide-spread traditionary lore, and assigns to it an origin prior to the disjunction of the diflerent branches of our race from the one primeval stem. *
Subsequent to such disjunctions, changes of scene and cir- cumstance introduced modifications and divergences resulting in the course of time in something like a Babel of tradition, which, age by age, grew greater and wider, until the traces of a common origin among the more divergent branches were
1 Ellis, in the Introdaction to his Specimens of Early English Metrical Romancts, con- tends that the Earliest Romances, properly so called, were composed in Norman French by minstrels pertaining to the com't of the Anglo-Norman kings ; wliile he regards the southern portion of Scotland as the birthplace of the English language, and the earliest English Romances as the productions of "Scottish minstrels."
Sir "Walter Scott, referring to this seeming paradox, remarks: — "Upon this hypothesis, it is curious to observe that, as the earliest French Romances were written in England, so the earliest EngUsh Romances were composed in Scotland."
2 Sir Walter Scott, in his Essay on Romance, Miscellaneous Works, voL vl, p. 174.
3 Motherwell's Minstrelsy, Introduction, p. xxxv.
* Mr. Motherwell rises "to the height of this great argument" in the following passage: — "As to the original source from whence these stories have flowed, the reader need scarcely be told, how utterly useless all conjectm-e becomes ; the same stories, or but slightly varied, we find everywhere, and in every language, the popular vehicles of amusement or Instruction to the people. Countries far separated from each other, and having no afiinity of language, still preserve this identity in their popular tales ; and where these have disappeared in a measure from the litera- ture of the people, we may rest assured that their vestiges can still be traced in the legends of tne nursery.'' — Minstrelsy, Introduction, pp. xxxii.-xxxiiL See also Intro- duction to " Lord Randal," post, p. 305.
GENERAL INTBODUCTION.
all but lost. ' But by far the most fruitful source of confusion and mystification appears to have arisen from what seems to have been a common practice of the later bards, skalds, or minstrels — namely, the adaptation and application of the older stories and traditions to new persons and events — a practice, by the way, of which the careful reader will find several examples in this collection. Originality is a God-given gift conferred on few: but the capacity to imitate, to copy, or to reconstruct more or less skilfully under varied forms and in new combinations from pre-existent materials, are qualities possessed by multitudes. Nor does this apply to bards or ballad-writers merely, as much of our current literature in every department, and the bulk of our pulpit prelections, most amply and sadly testify. Literary patchwork in the press, and mosaic discourses in the pulpit, are leading characteristics of this age of shoddy.*
The use made of the old material gleaned or pilfered, and re-constructed or re-dressed, is usually abuse of such a nature as finds its fitting analogy in the conduct of such Goths as ignorantly and wantonly lay sacrilegious hands on the remains of some stately Old Edifice, in order that they may, without much expenditure of labour or money, construct a barn, or rear a dry-stone wall.
These remarks are not directed against honest work in the form of compilation, or the introduction of quotation honestly acknowledged, but against those counterfeiters who seek to stamp their own impress on the coinage of other men's brains — those pilferers or forgers who take or convey over to themselves the intellectual property of other and better endowed minds. At the same time, it must be acknow- ledged that originality becomes in every succeeding age much more difficult; mental phenomena, or the principles of human thought, as developed by the intellectual faculties ; of feeling, as manifested in the emotions and passions; or of will, as
1 "With respect to vulgar poetry, preserved by tradition," writes Eitson, "it is almost impossible to discriminate the ancient from the modern, the true from the false. Obsolete phrases will be perpetually changing for those lietter understood; and what the memory loses the invention must supply. So that a jjerformance of genius and merit, as the purest stream becomes polluted by the foulness of its channel, may in time be degraded to the vilest jargon. Tradition, in short, is a species of alchemy which converts gold to lead.
" He, however, who should have the patience to collect, the judgment to arrange, and the integrity to publish the best pieces of this description, would probably deserve the thanks of the antiquary and the man of taste ; but would more probably excite the malicious atta,cks and scurrilous language of a few despicable hireUngs, who, to the disgi-ace of criticism, of letters, and liberality, are permitted to dictate their crude and superficial ideas as the criterion of literary eminence." — Scotish Song, Historical Essay, vol. i., pp. Ixxxi.-lxxxii.
* If the Wise Man were alive at the present day, he might reiterate with greater force and propriety than ever, " The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be ; and that which is done is that which shall be done : and there is no new thing under the snn," &c., &c.—Ecclesiastet, chap, i^ verses 9-10. See also note, post, p. 373.
GENERAL INTRODUCTION.
displayed in the actions ; as well as physical phenomena, as exhibited in the material universe, are, in their general characteristics, the same in every age, and consequently available to those who had, or have, the intuition and opportunity first to use them; priority of appropriation conferring a right of possession, and constituting in this, as in other matters, a material advantage. The general truth thus indicated has been admirably and elegantly expressed by Sir Walter Scott, with special reference to poetic themes and similes : — "The earlier poets," says he, "have the advantage, and it is not a small one, of having the first choice out of the stock of materials which are proper to the art; and thus they compel later authors, if they would avoid slavishly imitating the fathers of verse, into various devices, often more ingenious than elegant, that they may establish, if not an absolute claim to originality, at least a visible distinction betwixt themselves and their predecessors. Thus it happens, that early poets almost uniformly display a bold, rude, original cast of genius and expression. They have walked at free-will, and with un- constrained steps, along the wilds of Parnassus, while their followers move with constrained gestures and forced attitudes, in order to avoid placing their feet where their predecessors have stepped before them. The first bard who compared his hero to a lion struck a bold and congenial note, though the simile, in a nation of hunters, be a very obvious one; but every subsequent poet who shall use it, must either struggle hard to give his lion, as heralds say, with a difference, or lie under the imputation of being a servile imitator." '
It may be reasonably inferred that the closer and more numerous the instances of afldnity between the traditions of any two or more nations to each other, or vice versa, are, so in proportion will be their more immediate or remote identity as a community.
Keeping this preliminary basis in view, let us now proceed to inquire into the origin of the ample, rich, and varied store of traditionary Ballad Lore which pertains to Scotland, or, to speak more precisely, to the Lowland Scots.
As is well known to every one who has paid any attention to early Scotish History, the origin and language, or languages, of the Caledonians, Picts, and Scots, have formed the fruitful themes of much learned disquisition and vehement controversy.
It forms no part of the writer's plan to trace elaborately, to examine minutely, or to discuss virulently the evidence pro and con advanced by the respective advocates of the Celtic or
1 Introductory Eemarks on Popular Poetry, prefixed to Scott's Minstrelsy, vol L, p. 6, edit 1830, and since.
GENERAL INTRODUCTION.
the Gothic origin of the nation or nations known under the designations named above. Nor is it necessary to do so. It is quite sufiBcient for us to know that the earliest dawn of Scotish History reveals to the student of its early annals two apparently different races, speaking two different languages, occupying, the one, the North-western, and the other the Eastern and Southern portions of the country, the former speak- ing a Celtic and the other a Gothic language; that the relative positions thus disclosed continued to subsist during the various wars and mutations which the country has passed through ; and that they still continue to exist down to the present day, although, as is well known, the Lowlanders of the East and South have, like an advancing tide, slowly but steadily enlarged their boundaries by encroachments on the territories of the no less heroic and chivalrous Highlanders of the North-West.
It would ill become a modern Scot, in whose veins the blood of both those ancient and distinguished races probably mingles and courses, to institute odious comparisons between them, or to exalt one to the disparagement of the other. Such an un- grateful task is, however, fortunately altogether foreign to the purpose of this Essay, which has, if not purely and solely, at least more immediately to do with the Ballads preserved by the Lowland Scots.
Affinity of language, of physical and mental characteristics, and of Folk or Traditionary Lore, all concur in identifying the Lowlanders of Scotland with the Northern or Scandinavian branch of the great Gothic family, which in the fifth and suc- ceeding centuries subverted the Roman empire and established Gothic kingdoms, not only over the whole of Northern and Western Europe, but also on the North-western shores of Africa. But in addition to such positive evidence of the most direct and convincing kind, we may add the negative evidence furnished by the fact, that Fingal and the other heroes of Ossian, as well as the other Traditions or Traditionary Stories current among the Gaelic Celts, find no place whatever in the popular traditions of the Lowlanders. The remains of Cymric traditions, such as of Arthur and the Knights of his Round Table, are likewise scanty, scattered, and obscure.' Although it is quite possible that the New-year's Mummers, who in the South-
1 A few literary notices occur in the works of Sir David Lindsay, &c, regarding "Gk)wmacmome," " Fynmakcoul," " Arthour," and "Gawane."
The following curious references to two of those heroes occur in the Cronitlis of Scotland: — "It is said that Fjmmakcoule, the sonne of Ooelns Scottisman, was in thir dayes ; ane man of huge statuore, of xvii. cubits of hicht. He was ane gret hunter, and richt terribU, for his huge quantite, to the pepill : of quhome ar mony vulgar fabillis amang us, nocht unlike to thir fabilis that are rehersit of King Arthxu^, and becaus his dedis is nocht authorist be authentik authoris, I will rehera na thing thairof.' — ,Sewnt Buke, chap. 18.
" Arthure" and "The Bound TabU" are also referred to in the same work.— JVia< Buke, chap. 11.
GENERAL INTRODUCTION.
west of Scotland, the old home of the Scotish Cymri,* are designated " Galatians," or " Galashins," may derive their name from "Galashin,"* who is said to have been the brother of the supposed hero of the ballad of " Kemp Owyne " (p. 21), and consequently nephew to King Arthur ; yet it is somewhat sin- gular to find the term " Kemp " prefixed to the name of the hero; a circumstance which renders it all but certain that the Ballad referred to has come to us from a Scandinavian source.
To Kobert Jamieson belongs the honour of being the first to point out " the singular coincidence which exists betwixt the ballads of Scotland and those of Denmark and Sweden, not only in their incidents, but also in those characteristic peculiarities of phraseology and expression which distinguish our Traditionary Songs.
"To those fond of tracing the obvious connection thus existing in the traditions and popular poetry of countries long separated from each other, the writings of Mr. Jamieson must ever prove both pleasing and profitable ; and there are few who know any- thing of the subject, on which he has bestowed so much attention and reflected so much light, but will readily subscribe to almost every one of the philosophic and ingenious views he has so well expressed in the Dissertation which precedes his masterly translations. To point out some of the striking resemblances between the Scottish and Scandinavian Ballad, it is only necessary to refer the reader to the translation of 'Skion Annie,' given in Popular Ballads, &c.,* for comparison with the Ballad of 'Fair Annie,' founded on the same incidents {post, p. 103). To the ballads, 'Young Child Dyring' (in Illiistrations, &c., page
1 Mr. Jamieson appears to identify them with the Cimbri of the Cimbric Cherson- esns. Others, however, contend that they were of the same race as those who are now styled Welsh. If the latter, their entire disappearance from the South-west of Scotland and North of England, is, to say the least, remarkable.
2 The speech with which he usually introduces himself is in these words : —
" Here comes I Galashin, Galashin is my name. Sword and buckler by my side, I hope to win the game.'
s Popular Ballads and Songs, frcm Traditions, Manuscripts, and Scarce Editions. fDith Translations of Similar Pieces from the Ancient Danish Language, and a Jeu- Originals by the Editor, Eobert Jamieson, A.M. and F.A.S., Edinburgh, 1S06, 2 vols. 8vo.
The work passed through the press while its editor was resident on the Con- tinent; and the first intimation of his "discovery" is contained in a letter written at "Riga, Dec. 31, old style, a.d. 1805-6," and prefixed to his translation of " Skioen Anna,' vol. ii., p. 99.
The fuller, more matured, and accurate result of his researches may be found in his Popular, Heroic, and Romantic Ballads, translated from the Northern Languages, with Notes and Illustrations, by B. Jamieson, A.M. and F.A.S., which forms Mr. Jamieson's contribution to Illustrations of Northern Antiquities, from the earlier Teutonic and Scandinavian Romances : being an Abstract of the Book of Heroes and Nibelungen Lap, tcith Translations of Metrical Tales, from the Old German, Banish. Sieedish andlslandic Languages. Edmburgh, 1814, 4to. This valuable work was the joint production of Henry Weber, Eobert Jamieson, and Sir Walter Scott
GENERAL INTRODUCTION.
335), and ' Catherine Janfarie' {post, page 85). To ' Ingefred and Gudrune' {Illtistrations, page 340), the subject of which is the same with that of ' Cospatrick,' 'Bothwell,' or 'Gil Brenton ' (post, pages 222-8). To ' Ribolt and Guldborg,' page 317, whose affinity to the ' Child of Elle,' 'Erlington,' and the ' Douglas Tragedy,' cannot be mistaken, (post, pages 26-34, &c.) To 'Sir Stig' and Lady Torelild,' page 344, which re- sembles 'Willie's Lady' (post, page 18). To 'Sir Wal and Lisa Lyle,' ' Fair Midel and Kirsten Lyle,' which ballads find a counterpart in a Scottish ballad called ' Leisome Brand,' though their catastrophes differ" ^ {see post, page 59).
Sir Walter Scott also refers to Mr. Jamieson's Popular Ballads, &c., in the following terms: —
" This work, which was not greeted by the public with the attention it deserved, opened a new discovery respecting the original source of the Scottish Ballads. Mr. Jamieson's ex- tensive acquaintance with the Scandinavian literature enabled him to detect not only a general similarity betwixt these and the Danish Ballads preserved in the Kiempe Viser, an early collection of heroic ballads published in that language [1591 and 1695], but to demonstrate that, in tnany cases, the stories and songs were distinctly the same, — a circumstance which no antiquary had hitherto so much as suspected.'"'
And yet, in the face of the circumstantial account given by Motherwell, and the approval and acquiescence expressed by both him and Sir Walter Scott, as just quoted, and by him- self, as undernoted,' Dr. Robert Chambers had the assurance to pen the following grossly inaccurate statement : —
" Robert Jamieson found in the Kcempe Viser, a Danish collec- tion of ballads, published in 1695, one resembling the Scottish ballad of Fair Annie (otherwise called Lady Jane) ; and on this ground he became convinced that many of our traditionary ballads were of prodigious antiquity, though they had been intermediately subjected to many alterations.
" Mr. Jamieson's belief seems remarkably ill-supported ; and as it has never obtained any adherents among Scottish ballad editors, I feel entitled to pass it over with but this slight notice."*
1 Motherwell's Minstrelsy, Introduction, p. lixxix.
* Sir Walter Scott's Introductory Remarks on Popular Poetry, Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border, Tol. ii, p. 81. Edit. 1830, and since. See also post, p. 103.
* "The Tale of Fair Annie," wrote Dr. (then simply Mr.) Chambers, with evident allusion to Mr. Jamieson's researches, " is found, with many others, in the great Danish Collection called the Kiempe Viser, which was published in 1593." — Scottish JkUlads, &c., " Introductory," p. 6.
< Edinburgh Papers, by Robert Chambers, F.R.S.E., F.S.A.S., F.G.S., F.L.S., &a The Romantic Scottish Ballads, Their Epoch and Authorship, 1869.
GENERAL INTRODUCTIOX.
The reader who has perused the extracts from Motherwell and Scott, which precede that from Dr. Chambers, will not require to have the erroneous assumption of the statement made by the latter specifically exposed. It may, however, prove interesting, if not instructive, to note the ballads which Dr. Kobert Chambers manifested such a Quixotic anxiety to lay as a literary guerdon on the tomb of Lady Wardlaw, the reputed authoress of " Hardyknute " (p. 357). They are as follows:' —
"The Lass o' Lochryan" [p. 1].
" Willie and May Margaret ; or, The Drowned Lovers " [p. 9].
" The Douglas Tragedy " [p. 29].
"Clerk Saunders" [p. 44].
" Sweet William's Ghost" [p. 50].
" The Clerk's Twa Sons o' Owsenford" [p. 53].
" Lady Maisry " [p. 74],
"The Gay Gos-hawk" [p. 93].
"Fair Annie" [p. 103].
"Fause Foodrage" [p. 128].
"Tamlane" [p. 186].
"BurdEllen"[p. 248].
" Sweet Willie and Fair Annie " [p. 261].
" Young Hun tin " [" Earl Richard " or " Lord William," p. 270].
"Edward! Edward!" [p. 293].
"GilMorrice"^ [p. 313].
1 The references within brackets are to the pages of this work.
2 "In the middle of the last century," writes Dr. Chambers, "appeared two editions of a brochure containing the now well-known ballad of ' Gil Morrice ; ' the date of the second was 1755. Prefixed to both was an advertisement setting forth that the preservation of this poem was owing to a lady, who favoured the printers with a copy, as it was carefully collected from the mouths of old women and
nurses "Who was the ' lady ' that favoured the printers with the copy ?
I strongly suspect that the reviser was Lady Wardlaw, and that the poem was communicated to the printers either by her or by some of her near relationa" — The Romantic Scottish Ballads, &c., p. 11.
Now, as Lady Wardlaw died in 1727, the " copy " could hardly be communicated by her, unless " the printers " were " favoured " with it through the medium of spirit-rapping! At the same time it is qmte evident, as stated by Burns, who apparently refers to, if he does not quote from, a communication of Captain Bidders, "that the present ballad is a modern composition; perhaps not much above the age of the middle of the last century ; at least, I should be glad to see or hear of a copy of the present words prior to 1650. That it was taken from an old ballad called 'Child Maurice,' now lost, I am inclined to believe; but the present one may , be classed with 'Hardyknute,' 'Kenneth,' 'Duncan,' 'Lord Woodhouselee,' 'Lord Livingston,' 'Binnorie' [Pinkerton's version], 'The Death of Monteith,' and many other productions which have been swallowed by many readers as ancient fragments of old poems."— Cromek's Reliques.
The substantial accuracy of this opinion is borne out by the more specific state- ment made on the authority of Sir Walter Scott, and approved by Motherwell [post, p. 315]. But whether any one of the ruder, although in some respects more vigorous versions, more recently printed, can be regarded as the original used by the reviser, or who that personage may be, are matters which, like the authorship of Junius' Letters, are never hkely to be determined.
GENERAL INTRODUCTIOX.
"The Jew's Daughter" [p. 362].
" Sir Patrick Spens"* [p. 368].
" Young Waters " [p. 454].
" Johnnie of Braidislee " [p. 471]. ^^(Ifcft.
" Mary Hamilton " [p. 609]. ^'*
"Edom o' Gordon"* [p. 615].
1 Dr. Chambers objects to the antiquity of the ballad of "Sir Patrick Spens" on account of " the want of any ancient manuscript, the absence of tlie least trait of an ancient style of composition, the palpable modemness of the diction: for example, ' Our ship must sail the faem,' a glaring specimen of the poetical language of the reign of Queen Anne," p. 7. And again, " Sir Patrick tells his friends before starting on his voyage, ' Our ship must sail the faem ; ' and in the descrip- tion of the consequences of his shipwreck, we find, ' Mony was the feather-bed that flattered on the faem.' No old poet would use foam as an equivalent for the sea; but it was just such a phrase as a poet of the era of Pope would love to use in that sense." — The Romantic Scottish Ballads, &c., p. 23.
As to the first objection. Dr. Chambers, to be logically consistent, ought to deny the possibility of all transmission by oral tradition, which, as might be easily shown, he does not do. See post, p. 622.
As to the second objection, style, words, and phrases are, in oral transmission, i ^0AA^ somewhat like a shifting quicksand, and liable to such constant change, that to | found thereon an argtmient either pro or eon, resembles the conduct of "the foolish man who built his house upon the sand. ' And as to the alleged "palpable modernness of the diction," as exemplified in the use of the word " faem," it is only necessary to cite the two lines of an old song, as given by Gawin Douglas in one of the prologues to his celebrated Scotish translation of Virgil's ^neid, which appeared in 1513. The lines referred to are —
" The schip sails ower the saut fame, Will bring thir merchandis and my leman hame.''
2 Curiously enough, Mr. Motherwell, who in the main is as reliable as Dr. Chambers is the reverse, specially refers to " Edom o' Gordon," as an example of " how excellently well tradition serves as a substitute for more efficient and less mutable channels of communicating the things of past ages to posterity. In proof of this, it is only necessary to instance the well-known ballad of 'Edom o' Gordon,' which is traditionally preserved in Scotland, and of which there is fortunately extant a copy in an English MS., apparently coeval with the date of the subject of the ballad. The title of this copy is ' Captain Care.' We owe its publication to the late Mr. Bitson, in whose AiKient Songs it will be found, printed from a MS. in the Cottonian Library. Between the text of the traditionary version and that of the MS., a slight inspection will satisfy us that the variations are neither very numerous nor very important This is taking the MS. as the standard of the original text, although it can scarcely be considered as such, seeing it has been transcribed by an English clerk, who, perhaps, took it down from the imperfect recitation of some wandering Scottish minstrel, and thereafter altered it to suit his own ideas of poetical beauty." And in a note, Mr. Motherwell adds, "Eitson styles it the undoubted original of the Scottish ballad, and one of the few specimens now extant of the proper old English ballad, as composed, not by a Grub Street author for the stalls of London, but to be chaunted up and down the kingdom by the wandering Minstrels of the North Countrie. But here the critic has gratuitously assumed, that the name which appears at the end of it, as the copyist, is also that of the author." — Minstrelsy, Introduction, pp. ii.-lii.
Regarding this ballad. Dr. Chambers writes : — " ' Edom o' Gordon ' is only a modem and improved version of an old ballad which Percy found in his Folio MS., under the name of Captain Adam Carre. . . . All that can be surmised here, is, that the revision was the work of the same pen with the pieces here cited — as witness ,for example, the opening stanzas : —
" It fell about the Martinmas,
When the wind blew shrill and CAuld,* Said Edom o' Gordon to his men, — ' We maun draw to a hauld.
Dr. Chambers's note is: — " Young Waters " opens in the «une manner: —
" Aboat Yule, when the wind blew cool !"
XX GENERAL INTRODUCTION.
"The Bonnie Earl of Murray" [p. 531].
"Gilderoy"[p. 632].
" The Heir of Linne " (Scotish version) [p. 641].* " All of which," says Dr, Chambers, " besides others which must rest unnamed, bear traces of the same authorship."
The reader may perceive (see note p], preceding page) that Dr. Chambers regards a certain hackneyed repetition of stock phraseology as originating with and peculiar to Lady Wardlaw's alleged imitations of the ancient ballads, which phraseology
" ' And what a hauld shall we draw till, My merry men and me ? We will f-'ae to the house o' Bodes, To see that fair ladye.'
" The ladye stood on her castle wa', Beheld baith dale and down ; There she was 'ware of a host of men, Come riding towards the town. *
" ' Oh, see ye not, my merry men a', t Oh, see ye not what I see ? ' '' — &c.
Now, let it be observed that stanza 3 and the first two lines of stanza i, as here quoted, do not occur in the version of the ballad first issued at Glasgow, in 1755.
And to show the justice of the estimate here expressed, as to the relative merits of Mr, Motherwell and Dr. Chambers, it may be sufficient to quote the first five stanzas of the version referred to by the former, as published by Mr. Eitson from the MS. in the Cotton Library, which stanzas the intelligent reader may, if he or she chooses, compare with the stanzas and lines quoted above, and then form his or her own conclusioiL The first five stanzas given by Mr. Ritson are as foUows : — " It befeU at Martynmas,
When wether waxed colde, Captaine Care saide to his men, ,
' We must go take a holde.'
" 'Haille, mastet, and wether you will, And wether ye like best.' ' To the castle of Crecnmhroghe ; And thei'e we will take our reste.
" ' I know wher is a gay castle. Is build of lyme and stone, "Within there is a gay ladie, Her lord is ryd from horn.'
" The ladie lend on her castle-walle. She loked upp and downe ; There was she ware of an host of men. Come riding to the towne.
" ' Come you hether, my meri men all. And look what I do see ; Tonder is ther a host of men, I musen who they bee.'"
1 Dr. Chambers ought to have known that the " Scotch Heir of Linne " was not "recovered by Mr. J. H. Dixon," but by Mr. Peter Buchan. It appears, however, for the first time, in the Scottish Traditional Versions of Ancient Ballads, edited by Mr. Dixon, for the Percy Society.
Dr. Chambers's notes are : —
• We liave seen the same description in both "Young Waters" Mid "The Bonnie Earl of Murray." t Compare this with " Sir Patrick Spence,"—
" Uak haste, mak baste, my merry men a'."
GENERAL INTRODUCTION.
really does not occur in the version of the ballad, " Edom o' Gordon," which he uses as the basis of an argument where- with to bring " Young Waters," &c., within his charmed circle. But as the sceptical theory of Dr. Kobert Chambers has been fully, perhaps even too verbosely, answered by Mr. Nerval Clyne of Aberdeen,' and by Mr. James Hutton Watkins of this City;* as it has been since virtually abandoned by its advocate; as the Introductions prefixed to the respective ballads, taken in connection with what has been here said, quoted, and referred to, will enable each reader to form his or her own judgment on the matter; and, as the space at disposal is somewhat limited, the writer feels "entitled to pass it over with but this slight notice," which is perhaps more than it is "entitled" to receive.
Most of the ballads assigned to Lady Wardlaw by Dr. Chambers belong to the class of Romantic Ballads included in Part First of this work. A few, however, belong to the class of ballads usually designated Historical,^ which latter form the larger portion of the ballads comprehended in Part Second.
The Historical and other ballads included in Part Second, are, as nearly as it can possibly be made out, or inferred, arranged in Chronological order, an arrangement which is quite im- possible as regards the ballads contained in Part First. Some •attempt, however, has been there made to group together ballads similar in theme or in treatment, or to connect them by refer- ences in the respective Introductions prefixed to the individual ballads.
1 The Romantic Scottish Ballads and the Lady Wardlaw Heresy. By Norval Olyne, Aber- deen, JLDCCCMX. As shown by Dr. Chambers s notes to the stanzas quoted by him from "Edom o' Gordon," and therefore as accurately stated by Mr. Norval Clyne, "He " — i.e., Dr. C. — " dwells strongly on points of resemblance between the ballads in dispute, and argues somewhat in this fashion. Number one has expressions similar to those in ' Hardyknute ; ' number two contains lines or words wonderfully like some in number one; number three has, in a similar way, a resemblance to numbers one and tvao; and so forth through the whole twenty-flve pieces. Take away number one therefore — to wit, 'Sir Patrick Spence,' the comer-stone of the structure raised by Mr. Chambers — and Mr. Chambers's logic [ ! ], unsound enough before, becomes too defective to be maintained with gravity." — (P. 13.)
It is painful to be under the necessity of passing censure on one who has done so much on behalf of a healthy popular literature.
2 Early Scottish Ballads. By James Hutton Watkins, Member of the Arch«ological Society of Glasgow. Being a revised paper read at a meeting of the Society, 8th January, 1866. — Printed, Glasgow, mdccclxvii.
3 This class, according to Mr. Motherwell's definition, "Embraces all those narrative songs which derive their origin from historical facts, whether of a public or private nature. The subjects of these are national or personal conflicts, family feuds, public or domestic transactions, personal adventure, or local incidents, which, in some shape or other, have fallen under the observation of contemporary and authentic annalists. In general, these compositions may be considered as coeval with the events which they commemorate; but, with this class as with that which has been styled the Romantic ballad, it is not to be expected that, in their progress to our day, they have undergone no modification of form, and these very consider- able, from that in which they were originally produced and promulgated among the people.'' — Minstrelsy, Introduction, p. ii.
C
GENERAL INTRODUCTION.
The Introductions referred to preclude the necessity of any- further reference to the ballads included in this collection. A few scattered notices regarding some Historical Ballads referred to and quoted by Hume of Godscroft, but which appear to be now lost, followed by excerpts of the most interesting passages in The Complaynt of Scotland^ a passing reference to the Maitland and Bannatyne MSS., and some account of our principal printed collections, may, however, be deemed interesting.
Of the notices occuring in Hume's work,' probably the earliest, in point of time, " relates to William, brother of King Achaius."*
The next relates how : " The Lord of Liddesdale, being at his pastyme hunting in Attrick Forest, is beset by William Earle of Douglas, and such as he had ordained for that purpose, and there assailed, wounded, and slain, beside Galeswood, in the year 1353, upon a jealousie, that the Earle had conceived of him with his Lady, as the report goeth, for so sayes the old song: —
' The Conntesse of Douglas, out of her bowre she came, And loudly there that she did call ; " It is for the Lord of Liddesdale, That I let all these teares down fall." '
The song also declareth how shee did write her love letters to Liddesdale, to disswade him from that hunting. It tells like- wise, the manner of the taking of his men, and his own killing at Galeswood, and how he was carried the first night to Linden Kirk, a mile from Selkirk, and was buried within the Abbacie of Melrose."^
A stanza of an ancient ballad relating to the Battle of Otter- bourne (fought 1388), may be found quoted, post, p. 426.
The same writer furnishes the following stanza: —
"Edinburgh Castle, town, and tower,
God grant thou sinke for sinne ; And that even for the black dinner,
Earl Douglas gat therein."
1 History of the Family of Douglas, by David Home of Godscroft, 1644.
2 One of the douzeperes of Charlemagne, and who "conquest," says Bellenden, "be his manheid and prowes. sic fame that he was callit The Knichi but Keproche in all his weris, and got sic riches and landis that he was gretumly renownit amang the princiss of France." "It is he," says Hume of Godscroft, "who is named, in songs made of him, Scottish Gilmore," which words are simply Hume's rendering of the following words of Major, — qui a noslratibus vuJgaliter Scotisgilmor rocatur. " May we presume then," inquires Finlay. "that since the expression, i-ulgaliter vocatur, when applied to Gilmore, appeared to Hume's mind equivalent to 'is named in songs,' these songs must have been stiU current in the days of the latter historian; or can we only conclude, that at the time when Major wrote (about 1508) he was still a popular hero in Scotland ? " — Bellenden's Boece 10 buke, cap. 4. [Hume's] History of the Family of Douglas, Major, lib. 11, cap. 13. Finlay's Ballads, vol. i., p. 12.
* Sir "Walter Scott quotes the above, and then intimates that "some fragments of this ballad are stiU current, and will be found in the ensuing work," Border Minstrelsy, vol. 1., Introduction, p. 222. Sir Walter must, however, have overlooked the fragments he refers to, as they do not appear in his work.
GENERAL INTEODUCTION.
which stanza is supposed to be the sole surviving relic of & ballad referring to what Motherwell justly styles "the infamous murder of William, Sixth Earle of Douglas [and his brother], in the Castle of Edinburgh, in 1440." But not, as he states, "by the hands of his sovereign." Although William, the Eighth Earl, fell as infamously, and in violation of a safe conduct, "by the hands of the same sovereign" (1452), in what has since been known as the Douglas room of Stirling Castle.
Hume has also " preserved the beginning of a scoffing rhyme made" with reference to the futile attempt of the Earl of Argyle "to enter the Merse as lieutenant of his Sovereign" (1528). The lines quoted are, —
" The Earl of Argyle is bound to ride
From the border of Edgebucklin brae ; i And all his habergeons him beside,
Each man upon a sonk of strae. They made their vow that they would slay."
There issued from the press of "Walter Chepman and Andrew Myllar, Edinburgh, in the year M.D.VIII.," a series of early Tracts or Chap-books in black letter, forming the earliest specimens of popular poetry known to have issued from the Scotisb press. But the only portion of this series falling specially within the scope of our subject, is
" A Gest of Robyn Hode," referred to, post, p. 322.
TTie Complaynt of Scotland (1549) furnishes us with a curious and interesting list of the " Stories and . . flet taylis, . . sum . in prose, and sum . in verse: . [quhilk] the Scheiphirdis,* thir vyuis and saruadis [reherseit] ane by ane."
[Omitting those derived from the Greek and Eoman classics; those which appear to be derived from Norman-French romances; as well as those by Chaucer, Dunbar, and Gavin Douglas; the following may be cited : — ]
" the tayle of the volfe of the varldis end " [post, p. 185].
" the taiyl of the reyde eyttyn vitht the thre heydis " [jpost, p. 199].
"the prophysie of merlyne" [post, pp. 208-9, 382, and 385-7].
"the tayl of the giantis that eit quyk men" [post, p. 200].
" on fut by fortht as i culd found." [Unknown.]
1 "Edgebucklin," near Musselburgh. — Scott
4 The author of The Complaynt states that "euyrie scheipherd hed ane home spune in the lug of there bonet, p. 66. [Apparently after the same fashion as the tobacco pipe which figures in the hat-band of an Irishman, as depicted or caricatured by Erskine Nicol and the Punch artists.] He also relates how " the prencipal scheip- hirde maid ane orisone tyll al the laif of his compangzons " [p. 66] ; wherein he "indoctryne his nychtbours as he had studeit ptholeme, auerois, aristotel, galien, ypocrites or Cicero, quhilk var expert practicians in methamatic art," and yet strangely enough this learned " Scheiphirde " is described as " ane rustic pastour of bestialite, distitut of vrbanite, and of speculatione of natural philosophe " [p. 97].
GENERAL INTBODUCTION.
"vallace." "thebruce."»
" the tail of the thre futtit dog of narrouay." [Unknown.]
" the tail quhou the kjmg of est mure land mareit the kyngis
dochter of vest mure land" [post, p. 128]. "Skail gillenderson the kyngis sone of skellye."* "the tail of Sir euan arthours knycht" [post, p. 21]. " Arthour knycht he raid on nycht vitht gyltin spur and
candil lycht."^ " the tail of syr valtir the bald leslye." * " the tail of the pure tynt." * "robene hude and litil ihone."* " the tayl of the zog tamlene " [post, p. 186]. "the ryng of the roy Kobert."^ " syr egeir and syr gryme." *
1 Henry the Minstrel, and Barbour, appear to have done for the Scotish Heroes what PisistratTLs is credited with having done for those of Greece, who are celebrated in the Homeric Rhapsodies. — See ante, p. ix., and post, p. 414.
2 Mr. Pinkerton suggests, and Mr. Motherwell supposes, that the outline of this tale is " to be found in Wintown." — Oronykil, a-d. 1158.
* Leyden, in the Preliminary Dissertation prefixed to his edition of the Complaint oi Scotland (p. 229), mentions that he had heard these lines " repeated in a nursery lale, of which I only recollect," says he, " the following ridicnloua verses: —
' Chick my naggie ! chick my naggle ! How mony miles to Aberdeagie? 'Tis eight, and eight, and other eight; We'U no win there wi' candle light.' "
* " Sir Walter Lesley accompanied his brother Norman to the east, to assist Peter, King of Cyprus; where, according to Fordun, Coeperunt civitatem Alexandrinam tempore ultimi regis David." Leyden. Ibid, p. 230. But "Mr. Flnlay seeks to connect With this a tradition preserved by Verstegan, in his Restitution of Oecaued Intelli- gence, Lond,, 1634, p. 292: 'A combat being once fought in Scotland, between a gentleman of the family of Leslyes, and a knight of Hungary, wherein the Scottish gentleman was victor; in memory thereof, and of the place where it happened, these ensuing verses doe in Scotland yet remaine : —
' Betweene the lesseley, and the mare. He slew the Knight, and left him there.'
Mackenzie, in his life of John Lesley, Bishop of Ross, gives a different account of this tradition, — namely, that the family of Lesley sprung from Bartholemy Lesley, a Hungarian gentleman who accompanied Queen Margaret from Hungary to England, and from thence to Scotland, where he married one of her Maids of Honour, about 1067." — Motherwell's Minstrelsy, Introduction, p. xlix_ note. See also Historical Records of the Family of Leslie, by Col. Leslie, K.H., of Balquhain. 3 vols., 1869.
5 "Probably the groundwork of the fairy tale of 'the pure tynt Bashycoat,' a common nursery tale." — Leyden. Ibid, p. 236.
6 Post, p. 322. Another ballad neither referred to there, nor printed in this work, is given by Mr. Buchan, under the title of " Jock the Leg and the Merry Merchant," Ancient Ballads, vol. ii., p. 165, and note, p. 325. It relates the discomfiture of "Jock the Leg," or "Little John," by the "Merchant," who is, therefore, accounted "the strongest and bravest man in the country," seeing that he " overcame Little John, Little John Robin Hood, and Robin Hood all the rest of the country."
7 Occurs in the Folio Maitland MS., and is there ascribed to "Deine David Steil." A modernized copy is given in Watson's Collection, Part IL, p. iii.; see aXsopost, p. 181.
* This romance, or it may be some abridgment of it, is thus referred to in the books of the Lord High Treasurer, a.d. 1497. " Item [the xix day of Aprile, in Striuelin], gifBn to twa flthelaris, that sang Gray-steil to the King, ixs.'"
There are numerous references in the works of early Scotish writers to this romance, which seems to have been very popular in Scotland.
GEiraRAL INTRODUCTION.
" the tail of the amoars of leander and hero." ' "the tayl of the thre vierd systirs."*
" ^ Quhen thir Scheiphyrdis hed tald al thyr pleysand storeis, than they and their vyuis began to sing sueit melodius sangis of natural music of the antiquite, as eftir foUouis." (See The Songs of Scotland, Chronologically Arranged, p. xxvii.)
[Some of the pieces enumerated among the "sueit melodins sangis" are, however, properly speaking, ballads. For in- stance:—
" The frog cam to the myl dur," ' " the sang of gilquhiskhar." * " god sen the due, hed byddin in France, And delabaute had neuyr cum hame." * "the battel of the hayrlau" [post, p. 443]. " The hunttis of cheuet " [post, p. 425-6]. " The persee and the mongumrye met
that day, that gentil day " [post, p. 424]. " my luf is laid upon ane fcnight " [post, p. 476]. ]
"^ Thir Scheiphirdis ande there vyuis sang mony vthir melodi' eangis, the quhilkis i hef nocht in memorie. than eftir this sueit celest armonye, tha began to dance in ane ring, euyrie aid scheipherd led his vyfe be the hand, and euyrie zong scheip- herd led her quhome he luffit best."® — The Complaynt of Scotland, edited by John Leyden, 8vo, 1801, pp. 98-103.
1 In the EoxBURGHE Collectiok, and in Mr. Pasme Collier's Eoxburghe Ballads, p. 227, occurs, "The Tragedy of Hero and Leander. To a. pleasant new time, or, / tcill never love thee more." A song, or ballad founded on it, appeared in the Tea-table Miscellany, vol. ii., p. 138, and was inserted by Ritson in his Scotish Songs, voL ii., p. 198. It is not at all likely that either has any claim to be identified with the story oTflet tayle here referred to.
2 Mr. Motherwell supposes the outline of this story to be given in the following lines, relating to a dream which was dreamt, or vision which was seen, by Macbeth : —
" Thre werd systyris most lyk to be The first he heard say, gangande by, Lo yonder the Thayne o/Crumbachty! The Tother woman said agayn, 0/ Murray yonder Ise the Thaynl The Thrid than said, J se the kyng!"
This is the fountain-head of the story which the immortal Shakespieare introduces with such effect in his sublime tragedy of " Macbeth." — Act I., Scene iii.
» This is probably one of the numerous versions of the nursery ballad, " A frog he would a-wooing go."
* Is supposed to have been an historic ballad, but time, place, circumstance, and person are alike unknown.
5 This appears to have been a ballad on the Chevalier De la Beante, whom the Begent John, Duke of Albany, left as his deputy when he returned to France. The unfortunate Frenchman was savagely murdered by the Laird of Wedderbum and others, a.d. 1517.
6 The musical powers of " kyng amphion," " appollo," " al the scheipherdis that virgi] maklris mention in his bucolikis," " orpheus," " the scheiphyrd pan," " nor
GENERAL INTEODUCTION.
[Among the dances enumerated, the following are named after ballad heroes : —
"Eobene hude" [post, p. 322].
" thorn of lyn " [post, p. 186].
"johnne ermistrangis dance" [post, p. 489]. ]
But, as remarked by Leyden, the list " cannot be considered as complete, though it marks the peculiar taste of the author."
No reasonable argument against the antiquity of " Sir Patrick Spens," or any other presumedly ancient ballad or song, can therefore be founded on the silence of Tfie Complaynt regarding them. In fact, many of the Romances enumerated in The Complaynt, but here omitted, could never have been popular among Scotish shepherds* and their wives, while the whole scene of Arcadian or " sweet celestial harmony" and simplicity conjured up by the author was entirely alien to the stern reality witnessed in the Scotland of that age.
As The Complaynt is chiefly valued and referred to on account of the passages quoted above, it has been deemed advisable to give them in the orthography of the author, as represented by Leyden. *
The Maitland MSS., Folio and Quarto, a.d. 1555-86,' the one written by Sir Richard Maitland, and the other by his daughter; and the Bannatyne MS., written by George Bannatyne, A.D. 1568;* contain poems by Dunbar, Gawin Douglas, Henryson, Alexander Scot, Sir Richard Maitland, and other mahhars, named and un- named ; but, with the exception of two or three in the Bannatyne MS.,^ the poems contained in these MSS. cannot, properly speak- ing, be classed as ballads.
The principal printed Collections containing Scotish Ballads or Poems, which have been printed and classed as such, are as follows : —
"A Choice Collection of Comic and Serious Scots Poems,
mercnrius," "culd nocht be comparit to thlr foir said scheiphyrdis."— Conip/ajwt, p. 102.
The superlative excellence of their dancing is also graphically described : — " for fyrst thai bega vitht tua bekkis and vitht a kysse. eui-ipides, iuuenal, perseus, horasse, nor nane of the satiric poiettes quhUkis mouit ther bodies as thai hed bene dansand quhen thai pronuncit ther tragiedeis, none of them kepit moir geomatrial mesure nor thir scheiphyrdis did in thir dansing. nor ludius that vas the fyrst dansar of rome, enld nocht haf been comparit to thir scheiphirdis." Well might the author exclaim that he " beheld neuyr ane mair dilectabil recreatioe." — Complaynt p. 102.
1 See note, ante, p. xxiiL
2 The Eariy English Text Society announced a new edition of this curious and interesting work for their issue of 1870, but it has not yet appeared. (1871.)
s For an account of the contents of these MSS., see Pinkerton's Ancient Scotish Poems, vol. ii., Appendix I.
•• Ibid, and more accurately in Memorials of George Bannatyne, 1829, 4to, a volume printed for the Bannatyne Club.
* -The Baid of Eeidsquair," post, p. 521, is the only one given in this work.
GENERAL INTBODUCTIOK.
Both Ancient and Modem, By several Hands. Edinburgh, printed by James Watson: Sold by John Vallange." [Three Parts, 1706, 1709, and 1711. Second ed. of Part i., 1713.] '
" The Evergreen, Being a Collection of Scots Poems, Wrote by the Ingenious before 1600. Published by Allan Kamsay. Edinburgh, 1724.". 2 vols. *
"The Tea Table Miscellany: A Collection of Choice Songs, Scots and English. Edinburgh 1724, and after." 4 vols. *
" Reliques of Ancient English Poetry, &c.. By Thomas Percy, Lord Bishop of Dromore." London, Ist ed,, 1765, 4th ed. (im- proved) 1794. *
"Ancient and Modem Scottish Songs, Heroic Ballads, etc." [Edited by David Herd, assisted by George Paton.] Edinburgh, 1769. 2d ed., in 2 vols., 1776. *
"The Scots Musical Museum," &c., by James Johnson. Edinburgh, 6 vols., 1787-1803. [3d ed., "With copious Notes and Illustrations ... by the late William Stenhouse," and "with additional Notes and Illustrations by David Laing and C. K. Sharpe, Edinburgh, 1853." 4 vols.] •
" Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border," &c. [1st and 2d vols., 1802; 3d, 1803. Last ed. revised by Sir Walter Scott, Caddell, Edinburgh, 1830. 4 vols.] '
" Popular Ballads and Songs ... by Robert Jamieson." Edinburgh, 1806. 2 vols. *
1 This is the earliest collection of Scots Poems issued in book form.
2 Most of the poems contained in The Evergreen were printed from the Bannatyne MS. ; but they are given very inaccurately. It contains also " Hardyknute," " The Vision," &c., which had no right to a place under such a title as the above.
3 The earliest Colleclion of Scots Songs, and the basis of all subsequent collections.
* The Reliques contain a larger number of Scotish Ballads than had previously appeared in print, at least in a, collected form. Most, if not aU of them, were transmitted by Lord Hailes.
5 Contributes largely to our stock of ballads ; many fragments being also gleaned up and preserved which might otherwise have perished.
« The Notes and Illustrations were added to this last edition, of which they form the 4th volume; but in other respects the editions are the same, both being paged continuoasly; vols. i. to vi of the 1st ed. corresponding with vols i to iii. of the 3d ed. Music, Words, and Notes all combine to render this the most valuable compendium of Scotish Song prior to the beginning of the present century, and indispensable to those who wish to know nearly all that is known or can be ascer- tained regarding our National Song and Music up to that period.
? Mr. Motherwell, referring to " this great national work," remarks,—" Fortunate it was for the Heroick aud Legendary Song of Scotland that this work was under- taken, and still more fortunate that its execution devolved upon one so well qualified in every respect to do its subject the most ample justice." The present work con- tains, with very few exceptions, all the genuine reUcs of Traditionary Ballads first given to the world by The Great Wizard of the North, who won his spurs as collector aud editor of the above-named work.
8 For some account of Mr. Jamieson's contributions to the BaUad Literature of Scotland, see ante, p. xvi.
•XXVIU GENERAL INTRODUCTION.
" Minstrelsy, Ancient and Modern, with an Historical Intro- duction and Notes. By William Motherwell." Glasgow, 1827. '
" Ancient Ballads and Songs of the North of Scotland, Hitherto Unpublished, With Explanatory Notes by Peter Buchan." Edinburgh: printed for W. & D. Laing, and J. Stevenson, &c., 1828. 2 vols. *
Numerous collections, many of them of considerable value, although of minor importance, compared with those just named, are referred to under: — *
1 The " Historical Introduction and Notes " by Mr. Motherwell cannot be too highly praised, and rendered his Minstrelsy really invaluable to all who desired a comprehensive, and, at the same time, minute acquaintance with almost every- thing pertaining to or known regarding Sootish Ballads, up to the date of publication, and prior to the issue of the present work, in which the information he so industri- ously and intelligently gathered together and imparted is nearly all incorporated and supplemented.
a " The most extensive and valuable additions," writes Sir Walter Scott, " which have been of late made to this branch of ancient literature, are the collections of Mr. Peter Buchan, of Peterhead, a person of indefatigable research in that depart- ment, and whose industry has been crowned with the most successful resvilts ; " and again — " Of the originality of the ballads in Mr. Buchan's collection, we do not enter- ain the slightest doubt" After stating several good and valid reasons for this opinion, he further adds, — "Accordingly, we have never seen any Collection of Scottish Poetry appearing, from internal evidence, bo decidedly and indubitably original. It is perhaps a pity that Mr. Buchan did not remove some obvious errors and corruptions; but in truth, though their remaining on record is an injury to the effect of the ballads in point of composition, it is, in some degree, a proof of their authenticity." — Introductory Remarks on Popular Poetry, Minstrelsy, vol. i., pp. 85-8.
3 "Aberdeen Cantus; 1st. ed., 1662; 2nd. ed., 1666; 3rd. ed., 1682. Pinkertons Scottish Tragic Ballads, 1781, and Select Scottish Ballads, 2 vols., 1783. Caw's Poetical Museum, Hawick, 1784. -iBitson's Scottish Song, 2 vols., 1794. Scottish Poems of the Sixteenth Century, Edited by J. Q-. Dalzell, 1801. Finlay's Scottish Historical and Romantic Ballads, 2 vols., 1808. Evan's Old Ballads, &c., 2 vols., 1777; 4 vols., 1784 ; new ed., revised, 1810. Cromek's Select Scottish Songs, 2 vols., 1810. GUchrist's Collection of Ballads, &c., 2 vols., 1815. Hogg's Jacobite Relics of Scotland, 2 vols., 1819 and 1821. Smith's Scottish Minstrel, 6 vols., 1820-24. Struthers' British Minstrel, 1821. Laing's (David) Select Remains, &c., 1822. Laings (Alex.), Scarce Ancient Ballads, 1822, and Thistle of Scotland, 1823. Webster's Curious Old Ballads, 1824. A Ballad Book by C. K. Sharpe, 1824. A North Countrie Garland, by Maidment, 1824. MacTaggart's Scottish Gallovidian Encyclopedia, 1824. Buchan's Gleanings, 1825. Allan Cunningham's Songs of Scotland, 4 vols., 1825. David Laing's £arly Metrical Tales, 1826. Kinloch's Ancient Scottish Ballads, 1827; and The Ballad Book, 1827. Lyle'B Ancient Ballads and Songs, 1827. Jacobite Minstrelsy, Glasgow, 1829. Michel's Hughes de Lincoln, &c., Paris, 1834. Maidment's Ballads, &c., 1834. Dauney's Ancient Scottish Melodies, 1838. Madden's Syr Gawayne, Ac, 1839. Scottish Traditional Ver- sions of Ancient Ballads [from a MS. of Peter Buchan's]. edited by J. H. Dixon, 1845.
1 Chambers's Popular lihvmes, &c. [three editions, 1826, 1842, and 1870]. A New Book of Old Ballads, by Maidment, 1844. Whitelaw's Book of Scottish Ballads, 1845. Richardson's Borderer's Table Book, 8 vols.. 1841-6. The Ballads and Songs of Ayrshire, &C., By James Paterson 2 parts, 1846-7. Maidment's Scottish Ballads and Songs, 1859. Bishop Percy's Folio Manuscript, printed copy, 3 vols., 1868. Maidment's Scottish Ballads and Songs, &c., 2 vols., 1868. Logan's Pedlar's Pack, 1868. Professor Child's English
i and Scottish Ballads, 8 vols., 1861 — so often referred to and commended in this work — is specially valuable on account of its giving nearly every British Ballad or Ballad version worthy of preservation. The professedly collated collections are: — Chambers's Scottish Ballads, &c.V 1829. Aytoun's Ballads of Scotland, 2 vols., 1858 ;k 2nd edition, 1859. Allingham's Ballad Book (British)yl864. Robert's Legendary « Ballads of England and Scotland, 1868.
THE
BALLAD MINSTEELSY
OF
SCOTLAND,
ROMANTIC AND HISTORICAL.
PART I.-EARLY EOMMnC.
FAIR ANNIE OF LOCHRYAN.
The different versions of this favourite baUad are — L Herd's — " The Bonnie Lass of Lochroyan."
Ancient and Modem Scottish Songs, &c., vol. i., p. 149.
II. Scott's — "The Lass of Lochroyan. "
Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border, vol. iii., p. 199.
III. Jamieson's — " Fair Annie of Lochroyan."
Popular Ballads and Songs, voL i., p. 36.
IV. Buchan's — " Love Gregory."
Ancient Ballads and Songs, &c., vol. ii., p. 198.
The text here printed has been collated from the four versions named above.
A short fragment appeared in Johnson's Museum, vol. i., p. 5; and "Mr. Cunningham, in his Songs of Scotland, vol. i., p. 298, favoured the world with an ample specimen of his own poetical talents,"* based on the version of Sir Walter Scott. Songs on the story of " fair Annie " have also been written by Dr. Wolcot, Burns, and Jamieson.
Scott's version "is composed of verses selected from three MS. copies, and two obtained from recitation. Two of the copies are iu Herd's MS.; the third in that of Mrs. Brown, of Falkland." — Minstrelsy, vol. iii., p. 199.
• Motherwell's Minstrelsy, Introdaction, p. Ixil B
BALLAD MINSTRELSY OF SCOTLAND.
Jamieson's version is, he states, ' ' given verbatim from tlie large MS. collection, transmitted from Aberdeen, by my zealous and industrious friend, Professor Robert Scott, of that University. It was first written down many years ago, with no view towards being committed to the press ; and is now given from the copy then taken, with the addition only of stanzas 22 and 23 (41 and 42 of the present version), which the editor has inserted from memory." — Popular Ballads, vol. i. , p. 36.
Sir Walter Scott observes, that "the lover, who, if the story be real, may be supposed to have been detained by sickness, is re- jiresented in the legend as confined by fairy charms in au enchanted castle situated in the sea; " and he adds, that "the ruins of ancient edifices are still visible on the summits of most of those small islands, or rather insulated rocks, which lie along the coast of Ayrshire and Galloway, as Ailsa and Big Scaur. "
Mr. Chambers describes Lochryan as "a beautiful, though some- what wild and secluded bay, which projects from the Irish Channel into Wigtonshire (district of GaUoway), having the little seaport of Stranraer situated at its bottom." — Scottish Ballads, p. 225.
Concerning this ballad. Bums remarks : — "It is somewhat singular, that in Lanark, Eenfrew, Ayr, Wigton, Kirkcudbright, and Dumfries shires, there is scarcely an old song or tune, which, from the title, &c., can be guessed to belong to, or be the production of, these counties. This, I conjecture, is one of these very few, as the ballad, which is a long one, is called, both by tradition and in printed collection.^:, ' The Lass of Lochroyan,' which I take to be Lochryan, in GaUoway. ' — C'romek's Reliques, p. 196.
With reference to the " bonnie boat." which figures so prominent!;- in the ballad, the following extract may be quoted as attesting the accuracy with which its fittings and decorations are described: —
"According to Froissart, the vessels of the French fleet, prepared for the invasion of England in the tenth year of Kichard II. , were painted with arms, and gilded ; their banners, pennons, and standards were formed of silk ; and the masts, which glittered like gold, were painted from the top to the bottom. When the ancient popular ballads, therefore, describe the masts of a vessel as shining like gold or silver, or mention the ' sails of light green silk, and the tows of tafietie,' they probably adhere more strictly to the antique costume than a cursory observer would be apt to imagine." — Leydeu's Preliminary Dissertation to TUe Complaynt of ScotlanJ, p. 116.
Oh, it fell on a Wodensday, Lord Gregory 's ta'en the sea,
And he has left his fair Annie, And a weary woman was slie.
He hadna sailed away from her A day but barely three,
Till she has born a fair young son To her Lord Gregory.
FAIR A^'^'IE OF LOCHRTAN.
3 He hadna sailed away from her
A week but barely ane, Till fair Annie, in child-bed laid, For Lord Gregory did mane.
4 " Oh, wha will shoe my bonnie foot?
And wha will glove my hand?
And wha will lace my middle jimp
With a lang, lang linen band?
5 " Oh, wha will kame my yellow hair
With a new-made silver kame?
And wha will father my j'oung son,
Till Lord Gregory come hame?"
6 " Thy father will shoe thy bonnie foot,
Thy mother will glove thy hand,
Thy sister will lace thy middle jimp.
Till Lord Gregory come to land.
7 " Thy brother will kame thy yellow hair
With a new-made silver kame, And God will be thy bairn's father Till Lord Gregory come hame."
8 She hadna born her fair young son
A day but barely three. Till word has to fair Annie come, Her lord she'd nae mair see.
9 " Oh, I will get a carpenter
To build a boat to me; And I will get bold mariners, With me to sail the sea.
10 •' And I will seek him, love Gregory,
In lands where'er he be; Oh, I will gang to love Gregorj^, Since he canna come to me."
11 Her father he gar'd build a boat.
And fitted it royallie; The sails were of the light green silk, The tows of taflfetie.
12 The masts of burnish'd gold were made,
And far o'er sea they shone;
The bulwarks richly were inlaid
With pearl and royal bone.
BALLAD MINSTRELSY OF SCOTLAND.
13 At every needle tack was in't
There hung a silver bell, That softly tinkled with the breeze, Or salt sea's heaving swell.
14 And he has gi'en her the bonnie boat.
And sent her to the strand; She 's ta'en her young son in her arms, And tum'd her back to land.
15 She hadna saiPd but twenty leagues.
But twenty leagues and three, When she met with a rank rover. And all his companie.
16 "Now whether are ye the queen hersell
(For sae ye weel might be). Or are ye the lass of Lochryau, Seekin' Lord Gregory?"
17 " Oh, I am not the queen," she said,
" Tho' sic I seem to be ; But I am the lass of Lochryan, Seekin' Lord Gregory."
18 " Oh, see na thou yon bonnie bower?
It 's all cover'd o'er with tin ; When thou hast sail'd it round about. Lord Gregory is within."
19 And when she saw the stately tower.
Shining sae clear and bright, Whilk stood aboou the jawing wave. Built on a rock of height.
20 Says — " Row, row ye, my mariners.
And bring me to the land! For yonder I see my love's castle, Close by the salt sea strand."
21 She sail'd it round and round about,
And loud and sair cried she — " Now break, now break, ye fairy charms. And set my true love free ! "
22 She 's ta'en her young son in her arms,
And to the door slie 's gane; And long she knock'd, and sair she call'd, But answer got she nane.
FAIR ANNIE OF LOCHRTAN.
23 " Oh, open the door, Lord Gregory !
Ob, open, and let me in ! For the wind blaws through my yellow hair, And the rain draps o'er ray chin."
24 The night was dark, and the wind blew cauld,
And lier love was fast asleep. And the bairn that was in her twa arms Full sair began to greet.
25 Lang stood she at her true love's door,
And lang tirl'd at the pin ; At length up got his fause mother, Saj'^s — " Wha 's that wou'd be in ? "
26 " Oh, it is Annie of Lochryan,
Your love come o'er the sea, And your young son is in my arms, Sae open the door to me."
27 " Awa, awa, ye ill woman !
Ye're no come here for good, Ye're but some witch or wil' warlock, Or mermaid of the flood."
28 " I am neither witch nor wil' warlock,
Nor mermaid of the sea ; But I am Annie of Lochryan ; Oh, open the door to me ! "
29 "If thou be Annie of Lochryan
(As I trow thou binna she), Now tell me some of the love-tokens That pass'd between thee and me." —
30 " Oh, dinna ye mind. Lord Gregory,
As we twa sat at dine. We chang'd the rings frae our fingers, And I can show thee thine?
31 " Oh, yours was gude, and gude enough,
But no sae gude as mine ; For yours was of the gude red gold, But mine of the diamond fine.
32 " Now open the door, Lord Gregory,
Open the door, I pray ! For thy young son is in my arms, And will be deid ere day."
BALLAD MINSTRELSY OF SCOTLAND.
33 " If thou be the lass of Lochryan
(As I kenna thou to be), Tell me some mair of the love-tokens Pass'd between me and thee."
34 " Oh, dinna ye mind, Lord Gregory,
"When we sat at the wine, How we chang'd the napkins frae our necks- It 's nae sae lang sinsyne?
35 " And yours was gude, and gude enough,
But nae sae gtide as mine ; For yours was of the cambric clear, But mine of the silk sae fine.
36 " Sae open the door, now, love Gregory,
And open it with speed; Or your young son, that is in my arms, With cauld will soon be deid."
37 " Awa, awa, ye ill woman,
Gae frae my door for shame; For I ha'e gotten anither fair love, Sae ye may hie ye hame."
88 " Oh, ha'e ye gotten anither fair love,
For all the oaths ye sware?
Then fare ye weel, fause Gregory,
For me ye's ne'er see mair ! "
39 Fair Annie turn'd her round about —
" Weel ! since that it be sae, May ne'er a woman that has born a son Ha'e a heart sae full of wae! "
40 Oh, hooly, hooly gaed she back,
As the day began to peep ; She set her foot on good ship board, And sair, sair did she weep.
41 " Take down, take down the mast of gold,
Set up the mast of tree ; 111 sets it a forsaken lady To sail sae gallantlie.
42 "Take down, take down the sails of silk.
Set up the sails of skin ; 111 sets the outside to be gay, When there 's sic crrief within ! "
FAIR ANNIE OF LOCH RYAN.
When the cock had crawn, and the day did dawn,
And the sun began to peep, Lord Gregory started frae his sleep,
And sair, sair did he weep.
44 " Oh, I ha'e dream'd a dream, mother,
I wish it-may prove true, That the bonnie lass of Lochryan Was at the yate e'en now.
45 " Oh, T ha'e dream'd a dream, mother,
I wdsh it be not sae ; I dream'd a dream last night, mother, That gars my heart feel wae.
46 " I dream'd that Annie of Lochryan.
The flower of all her kin. Was standin' mournin' at my door. But nana wou'd let her in.
47 " Oh, I ha'e dream'd a dream, mother—
The thought o't gars me greet — That fair Annie of Lochryan Lay cauld deid at my feet."
48 " If it be for Annie of Lochryan
That ye make all this din. She stood all last night at your door. But I trow she wan na in."
49 " Oh, wae betide ye, ill woman !
An ill deid may ye dee! > That wadna open the door to her. Nor yet wou'd wauken me."
50 Oh, lie's gane down to yon shore side
As fast as he cou'd fare; He saw fair Annie in the boat, But the wind it toss'd her sair.
51 " And hey, Annie ! and how, Annie !
0 Annie, winna ye bide?" But aye the mair he cried " Annie," The braider grew the tide.
52 " And hey, Annie! and how, Annie!
Dear Annie, speak to me ! " But aye the louder he cried " Annie," The louder roar'd the sea.
BALLAD MINSTRELSY OF SCOTLAND.
53 The wind grew loud, the sea grew rough,
And the ship was rent in twain; And soon he saw her, fair Annie, Come floating o'er the main.
54 He saw his young son in her arms,
Baith toss'd aboon the tide ; He wrang his hands, and plung'd himsell Into the sea sae wide.
55 The wind blew loud, the sea grew rough,
And dashed the boat on shore; Fair Annie floated through the foam, But the babie rase no more.
56 Lord Gregory tore his yellow hair.
And made a heavy moan ; Fair Annie's corpse lay at his feet — Her bonnie young son was gone.
57 Oh, cherry, cherry was her cheek,
And golden was her hair ; But clay-cauld were her rosy lips — Nae spark of life was there. '
58 And first he kiss'd her cherry cheek,
And syne he kiss'd her chin.
And syne he kiss'd her rosy lips —
There was nae breath within.
59 " Oh, wae betide my cruel mother !
An ill death may she dee ! She turu'd my true love frae my door, Wha came sae far to me.
60 " Oh, wae betide my cruel mother !
An ill death may she dee ! She turned fair Annie frae my door, Wha died for love of me."
61 Oh, he has mourn'd o'er fair Annie,
Till the sun was ganging down ; Syne with a sigh his heart it burst. And his saul to heaven has flown.
THE DROVTNED LOVERS.
THE DROWNED LOVERS ; or, WILLIE AND MAY MARGARET.
A fragment of this ballad, extending to sixteen stanzas, first appeared, under tne title of " Willie and May Margaret," in Jamieson's Popular Ballads, vol. i., p. 134, where he says, "it was taken from the recitation of Mrs. Brown of Falkland." Motherwell reprinted the same fragment in his Minstrelsy, p. 155 ; and in his Appendix ii. , p. iii., appear sixteen additional stanzas, completing the ballad, which was also given in a complete state by Buchan, imder the title of "The Drowned Lovers." — Ancient Ballads, &c., voL i., p. 140.
The earUer stanzas of this latter version differ in a few unimportant particulars from those of Jamieson's fragment.
Professor Aytoun printed Mr. Jamieson's version, with the addition of "three stanzas, from Mr. Buchan's," under the title of "The Mother's Malison," as he considered that "there is a superfluity of Willies and Margarets in our popular minstrelsy." — The Ballads of Scotland, vol. i., p. 155.
Buchan's version is the one here generally followed.
The fatal end of both lovers is brought about through the deception of a malicious mother, who answers in the assumed voice of a lover, in which respect it resembles the preceding ballad, "Fair Annie of Lochryan."
A similar ballad of the North, but apparently of later date, named, "Willie's Drowned in Gameiy," appears in a subsequent portion of this collection.
1 Willie stands in his stable door,
Clapping Lis coal-black steed; And looking o'er his white fingers, His nose began to bleed.
2 " Gi'e corn to my horse, mother,
And meat to my man, John ;
And I'll awa to Marg'ret's bower,
Before the night comes on."
3 " Oh, bide this night with me, Willie,
Oh, bide this night with me ; The best, an' fowl of all the roost At your supper shall be."
4 " All your fowls, and all your roosts,
I value not a prin ; Sae I'll awa to Marg'ret's bower, Before the night sets in."
10 BALLAD MINSTRELSY OK SCOTLAND.
5 " Stay this night with me, Willie,
Oh, stay this night with me; The best, an' sheep in all the flock, At your supper shall be."
6 " All your sheep, and all your flocks,
I value not a prin ; Sae I'll aAva to Marg'ret's bower, I maun be there this e'en."
7 " Oh, stay at home, my son, Willie,
The wind blaws cauld and shrill; The night will be baith mirk and late, Ere her bower ye win till."
8 " Oh, tho' the night were e'er sae mirk.
Or the wind blew e'er sae cauld, I will be in May Marg'ret's bower Before twa hours be tauld."
9 " Oh, an' ye gang to Marg'ret's bower,
Without the leave of me, In the deepest pot* of Clyde's water, My malison drown thee."
10 " The gude steed that I ride upon
Cost me thrice threttie pound ; And I'll put trust in his swift feet, To take me safe and sound."
11 He mounted on his coal-black steed.
And fast he rode awa; But ere he came to Clyde's water, Full loud the wind did blaw.
12 As he rade o'er yon high, high hill.
And down yon dowie den. The noise that was in Clyde's water Wou'd fear'd five hunder men.
13 " Oh, roaring Clyde, ye roar ower loud,
Your streams seem wondrous Strang; Make me your wreck as I come back, But spare me as I gang."
14 His heart was warm, his pride was up;
Sweet Willie kentna fear; But yet his mother's malison Aye sounded in his ear.
* " Pot; " hole, or eddy-pooL
THE DKOW^NED LOVERS. H
15 Oh, he has swam through Clyde water,
Though it was wide and deep ; And he came to May Marg'ret's door When all were fast asleep.
16 Oh, he 's gane round and round about,
And titPd at the pin; But doors were steek'd, and windows barr'd, And nane would let him in.
17 "Oh, open the door to me, Marg'ret —
Oh, open and let me in ! For my boots are full of Clyde's water, And frozen to the brim."
18 " Oh, wha is this at my bower door
That calls me by my name?" " It is your first love, sweet Willie, This night newly come hame."
19 "I ha'e some lovers without, without.
And I ha'e some within ; But the best lover that e'er I had, He was here late yestreen."
20 " Oh, if ye winna open the door,
Nor yet be kind to me, Now tell me of some out-chamber Where I this night may be."
21 " My barns are full of corn, Willie ;
My stables are full of hay ; My bowers are full of merry young men, They winna remove till day."
22 " Oh, fare ye wee), then, May Marg'ret,
Since better maunna be; I've won my mother's malison Coming this night to thee."
23 He 's mounted on his coal-black steed —
Oh, but his heart was wae!
But ere he came to Clyde water,
'Twas half up o'er the brae.
24 And when he came to Clyde water,
'Twas flowing o'er the brim; The rushing that was in Clyde water Took Willie's cane frae him.
12 BALLAD MINSTRELST OF SCOTLAND.
25 He lean'd him o'er his saddle bow,
To catch his cane again; The rushing that was in Clyde water Took Willie's hat frae him.
26 He lean'd him o'er his saddle bow,
To catch his hat by force; The rushing that was in Clyde water Took Willie frae his horse.
27 His brother stood upon the bank.
Says — " F5"e, man, will ye droon? Ye'U turn ye to your high horse head. And learn ye how to soom."
28 " How can I turn to my high horse head,
And learn me how to soom? Tve gotten my mother's malison, — It 's here that I maun droon."
29 The very hour the young man sank
Into the pot sae deep. Up it waken'd her. May Marg'ret, Out of her drowsy sleep.
30 " Come here, come here, my mother dear,
And read this dreary dream; I dream'd my love was at our yetts, And nane wou'd let him in."
31 " Lye still, lye still now. May Marg'ret,
Lye still, and take your rest, Since your true love was at our yetts, It 's but twa quarters past."
32 Nimbly, nimbly rase she up,
And nimbly put she on; And nimbly to Clyde water sido May Margaret has gone.
33 When she came to Clyde water side.
Right boldly slie stepp'd in; And loud her true love's name slie call'd, But louder blew the win'.
3i The firsten step that she stepp'd in, Her flesh with cauld did ci'eep , " Alas, alas !" the lady said, " This water 's cauld and deep.
PRINCE ROBERT. 13
35 The neisteu step that she wade in, She waded to the knee ; Says she — " I would wade further in, If I my love cou'd see."
S6 The.neisten step that she wade in, Sh6 waded to the chin; The deepest pot in Clyde water She got sweet Willie in.
27 " You've had a cruel mother, Willie, And I have had another; But we shall sleep in Clyde water, Like sister and like brother."
PRINCE ROBERT.
First published, "from the recitation of a lady nearly related to the editor," in Scott's Minstrelsy of the Scottish Boi-der, voL iii, p. 2G9.
Another version appeared in Minstrelsy, Ancient and Modem, p. 200, " given," saj's Motherwell, " from the recitation of an old woman, a native of Bonhill, in Dumbartonshire ; and it is one of the earliest songs she remembers of having heard chanted on the classic banks of the Water of Leven. The variations between the two copies are not very many or striking."
Motherwell's version has furnished a few emendations on Scott s text; while stanzas 8 and 10 are partly, and 12 wholly, derived from it. The stanzas corresponding to stanzas 9 and 14, of the text here Ijrinted, are also given at the bottom of the respective pages.
Motherwell further states, in his Introduction (p. Ixxxiii., note 95), that he had " seen a third copy, which gives two stanzas not found in either of the sets before the public : " —
" Lord Robert and Mary Florence, They were twa children ying: They were scarce seven years of age, Till love began to spring.
"Lord Robert loved Mary Florence, And she lov'd him above power ; But he dnrst not, for his cruel mither, Bring her intill his bower." " •
" Lady Isabel," which immediately follows, and " Clerk Tamas," which appears further on, are both similar to "Prince Robert" in the method of poisoning described.
1 Prince Robert has wedded a gay ladye, He has wedded her with a ring ; Prince Robert has wedded a gay ladye, But he darena bring her hame.
14 BALLAD MINSTRELSY OF SCOTLAND.
2 " Your blessing, your blessing, my mother dear !
Your blessing now grant to me ! " " Instead of a blessing, ye sliall have my curse, And you'll get nae blessing frae me."
3 She has call'd upon her waiting-maid
To fill a glass of wine ; She has call'd upon her fause steward To put rank poison in.
4 She has put it to her haggard * lips,
And to her haggard chin; She has put it to her fause, fause mouth, But never a drap gaed in.
5 He has put it to his bonnie mouth,
And to his bonnie chin ; He has put it to his cherry lips, And the rank poison ran in.
6 " Oh, you ha'e poison'd your ae son, mother.
Your ae son and your heir; Oh, ye ha'e poison'd your ae son, mother, And sons you'll never ha'e main
7 " Oh, where will I get a little boy,
That will win hose and shoon, To rin sae fast to Darlinton, And bid fair Eleanor come ? "
8 Then up and spake a little boy.
To Prince Robert something akin : " I've oft with joy your errands ran, But this day with the tears I'll rin."
9 Oh, he has run to Darlinton,
And tirl'd at the pin ; And wha was sae ready as Eleanor, To let the bonnie boy in ? f
10 " What news, what news, my bonnie boy. What news ha'e ye to me?" " I bring a message frae Prince llobert, And his lady mother, to thee.
* The original reads "roudes," in place of "haggard," in both this and the fol- lowing line.
t Motherwell's version has the following stanza here: — " Oh, when he came to Sittingen's rocks. To the middle of a' the ha'. There were bells a-ringing, and music playing, And ladies dancing a'.'' Contrast this with stanza U.
PBIXCE ROBERT. 15
11 " Your gude-mother has made ye a rare dinner,
She 's made it baith gude and fine ; Your gude-mother has made ye a gay dinner, And ye maun come to her and dine."
12 She call'd unto, her waiting-maid,
To bring her a riding weed ; And she call'd to her stable groom, To saddle her milk-white steed.
13 Oh, it 's twenty lang miles to Sillertoun town,
The langest that ever were gane : But the steed it was wight, and the ladye was light, And she rade briskly in.
14 But when she came to Sillertoun town,
And into Sillertoun hall, The torches were burning, the ladies were mourning, And they were weeping all.*
15 " Oh, where is now my wedded lord?
And where now can he be ? Oh, where is now my wedded lord ? For him I canna see."
IG " Your wedded lord," his mother said, " Will soon be laid in the clay : Your wedded lord is dead," she said, " And will be buried the day.
17 " Ye'se get nane of his gowd, ye'se get nane of his gear,
Ye'se get nae thing frae me ; Ye'se no get an inch of his gude braid land, Though your heart shou'd burst in three."
18 " I want nane of his gowd, I want nane of his gear,
I want nae land frae thee ; But I'll ha'e the rings frae his wee finger, For them he did promise to me."
10 '■ Ye'se no get the rings frae his wee finger, Ye'se no get them frae me ; Ye'se no get the rings frae his wee finger. An' your heart shou'd burst in three."
• The corresponding stanza in Motherwell's version reads —
" But when she came to Earl Kobert's bouir, To the middle of a' the ha'. There were bells a-ringing, and sheets down hinging; And ladles inurning a'.'
16 BALLAD MIHrSTRELST OF SCOTLAND.
20 She's turned her back unto the wall,
And her face unto a rock ; And there, before the mother's face. Her very heart it broke.
21 The ane was buried in Marie's kirk,
The other in Marie's quire ; And out of the ane there sprang a birk, And out of the other a brier.
22 And thae twa met, and thae twa plat.
The birk but and the brier; And by that ye may very weel ken They were twa lovers dear.
LADY ISABEL. Abridged from Buchan's Ancient Ballads and Songs, vol. i., p. 129.
1 'TwAS early on a May morning.
Lady Isabel comb'd her hair ; But little kenn'd she on the morn She would never comb it mair.
2 Ben it came her stepmother,
As wroth as wroth cou'd be ; " It 's tauld me that your father loves You better far than me."
3 " Oh, them that tauld you that, mother,
Ha'e done it for some spite ; Oh, them that tauld j'ou that, mother, May God their ill requite."
4 " It may be very well seen, Isabel,
It may be very well seen. He buys to you the damask gowns, To me the dowie green."
" Ye are of age, and I am young. And young among my flowers ;
The fairer that my claithing be, The mair honour is yours.
" I ha'e a love beyond the sea. And far ayont the faem ;
For ilka gown my father buys, My love sends me ten hame."
LADY ISABEL. 17
7 " Come ben, now, Lady Isabel,
And drink the wine with me; I ha'e twa jewels in ae coffer. And I'll gi'e ane to thee."
8 " Stay still, stay still, my mother dear,
Stay still a little while, Till I gang into Marykirk, — It's but a little mile."
9 "When she gaed on to Marykirk,
And into Mary's quair. There she saw her ain mother Sit in a gowden chair.
10 " Oh, will I leave the lands, mother?
And shall I sail the sea? Or shall I drink this dowie drink That is prepared for me? "
11 "Ye winna leave the lands, daughter,
Nor will ye sail the sea. But ye will drink the drink prepared By this woman for thee.
12 " Your bed is made in a better place
Than ever hers will be ; And ere ye're call'd into the room, Ye will be there with me."
13 She gaed unto her garden green,
Her Marys all to see; And ga'e to each a broach or ring, A keepsake for to be.
14 Then slowly to the bower she gaed,
And slowly enter'd in; And being full of courtesie.
Says — " Begin, mother, begin."
15 She put it to her fause, iause cheek,
Sae did she to her chin; Sae did she to her fause, fause lips, But never drap gaed in.
16 Lady Isabel put it to her cheek,
Sae did she to her chin; Sae did she to her rosy lips, And the rank poison gaed in. c
18 BALLAD MINSTRELSY OF SCOTLAND.
17 " Oh, take this cup frae me, mother,
Oh, take this cup frae me ; My bed is made in a better place Than ever yours will be.
18 " My bed is in the heavens high,
Amang the angels fine; But yours is in the lowest hell. To drie, torment, and pine."
19 Nae mane was made for Lady Isabel,
In bower where she lay dead; But all was for that ill woman In the fields gaed raving mad.
WILLIE'S LADYE.
ANCIENT COPY. — FIRST PUBLISHED BY SIR WALTER SCOTT.
"Mr. Lewis, in his Tales of Wonder (No. 56), has presented the public with a copy of this ballad, with additions and alterations. The editor has also seen a copy, containing some modern stanzas, pubhshed by Mr. Jamieson, of Macclesfield, in his Collection of Scottish Poetry. Yet, under these disadvantages, the editor cannot relinquish his purpose of publishing the old ballad, in its native simplicity, as taken from Mrs. Brown of Falkland's MS.
"Those who wish to know how an incantation, or charm, of the distressing nature hei'e described, was performed in classic days, may consult the story of Galanthis's Alctamorphosis, in Ovid, or the following passage in Apuleius: — ' Eadem (Saga scilicet quasdam) amatoris uxorem, quod in earn dicacule probrum dixerat, jam in sarcinam prsegnationis, obsepto utero, et repigrato fcetu, perpetua prsegnatione danmavit. Et ut cuncti numerant, octo annorum onere, misella ilia, velut elephantum paritura, distenditur.' — Apul., Metam., lib. i.
"There is also a curious tale about a Count of Westeravia, whom a deserted concubine bewitched upon his marriage, so as to preclude all hopes of his becoming a father. The spell continued to operate for three years, till one day, the Count happening to meet with his former mistress, she maliciously asked about the increase of his family. The Count, conceiving some suspicion from her manner, craftUy answered, that God had blessed him with three fine children ; on which she exclaimed, like Willie's mother in the ballad, ' May heaven confound the old hag, by whose counsel I threw an enchanted pitcher into the draw-well of your palace ! ' The spell being found and destroyed, the Count became the father of a numerous family (Hierarchie of the Blessed Angels, p. 474)." — Sir Walter Scott's Min- strelsy, vol. iii., p. 168.
To complete the story, stanzas 15 and 16 are adapted with slight
WILLIE'S LADYE. 19
alteration from Jamieson's version, wbicli appears under the title of " Sweet Willie," in Popular Ballads, &c., vol, ii., p. 367.
The modernized copy which Sir Walter Scott refers to is probably "Sweet Willie of Liddesdale. " — Popular Ballads, &c., voL ii., p. 178,
The last two lines of stanzas 5 and 9 are the same as the two con- cluding lines of " Kemp Owyne,"
It is probable that in this ballad the last line of these stanzas originally read —
" I wish that I were dea>d and gane,"
and that the last word of stanzas 3, 7, and 11, originally read " wean," in place of "bairn."
There is a Danish ballad, "Sir Stig and Lady Torelild," on the same subject, a translation of which is given by Jamieson, in Illus- trations of Northern Antiquities, p. 344, and "is the eighth (marked H) of nine Danish ballads given by Grundtvig, under the title Hustru og Mands Moder, vol. ii., p. 404. Three Swedish versions have [also] been printed."^ — Prof. Child, English and Scottish Ballads, vol. i., p. 162,
1 Willie has ta'en him o'er the faem,
He 's wooed a wife, and brought her hame ; He 's wooed her for her yellow hair, But his mother wrought her meikle care ;
' 2 And meikle dolour gar'd her dree,
For lighter she can never be ; But in her bow'r she sits with pain, And Willie mourns o'er her in vain.
3 And to his mother he has gane, That vile rank witch, of vilest kind ! He says — " My lady has a cup, With gowd and silver set about; This gudely gift shall be your ain, And let her be lighter of her bairn."
4 " Of her bairn she 's never be lighter. Nor in her bow'r to shine the brighter; But she shall die, and turn to clay, And you shall wed another may."
5 " Another may I'll never wed, Another may I'll never bring hame." But, sighing, said that weary wight — " I wish my life were at an end."
G " Yet gae ye to your mother again, That vile rank witch, of vilest kind ! And say, your ladye has a steed, The like of him 's no in the land of Leed.*
*"Land of Leed:"" perhaps Lydia. [Scott.] Not at all probable: more likely either Liddesdale or the distxict of Leadhills, Lanarkshire.
20 BALLAD MINSTRELSr OF SCOTLAND.
7 " For he is silver shod before, And he is gowden shod behind; At every tuft of that horse mane
There 's a golden chess,* and a bell to ring. This gudely gift shall be her ain, And let me be lighter of my bairn."
8 " Of her young bairn she 's ne'er be lighter, Nor in her bow'r to shine the brighter; But she shall die, and turn to clay,
And ye shall wed another may."
9 " Another may I'll never wed, Another may I'll never bring hame." But, sighing, said that weary wight — " I wish my life were at an end ! "
10 " Yet gae ye to your mother again. That vile rank witch, of rankest kind ! And say, your ladye has a girdle,
It 's all red gowd to the middle ;
11 " And aye, at ilka siller hem. Hang fifty siller bells and ten ; This gudely gift shall be her ain, And let me be lighter of my bairn."
12 " Of her young bairn she 's ne'er be lighter, Nor in your bow'r to shine the brighter ; For she shall die, and turn to clay,
And thou shall wed another may."
13 " Another may I'll never wed. Another may I'll never bring hame." But, sighing, said that weary wight— " I wish my days were at an end ! "
14 Then out and spak the Billy Blind, t He spak aye in good time [his mind] : — " Yet gae ye to the market place.
And there do buy a loaf of wace ; J Do shape it bairn and bairnly like. And in it two glassen een you'll put.
* " Chess " — should probably be jess — the name of a hawk"s bell.— Scott
t "Billy Blind:'" a familiar genius, or propitious spirit, somewhat similar to the Brownie. He is mentioned repeatedly in Mrs. Brown's ballads ; but I have not met with him anywhere else, although he is alluded to in the i-ustic game of Bogle (t. e, goblin) Billy Blind. The word is, indeed, used in Sir David Lindsay's Plays, but apparently in a different sense : —
" Priests sail laid you like ane Billy BHnde."
Pinkerton's Scottish Pvems, 1792, vol. ii., p. 232. i "Wace: " wax.
KEJIP OWYNE. 21
15 " Then to your mother you shall go, And bid her your boy's christening to ; But do you stand a little away,
And notice weel what she may say."
16 Then to his mother he did go.
And bade her his boy's christening to ;
And he did stand a little away.
To notice weel what she might say.
17 " Oh, wha has loosed the nine witch-knots That were amang that ladye's locks ? And wha 's ta'en out the kames of care, That were araang that ladye's hair ?
18 " And wha has ta'erj down that bush of woodbine That hung between her bow'r and mine ?
And wha has kill'd the master kid That ran beneath that ladye's bed? And wha has loosed her left foot shee. And let that ladye lighter be ? "
19 Syne, Willie 's loosed the nine witch-knots That were amang that ladye's locks ; And Willie 's ta'en out the kames of care That were into that ladye's hair ;
And he 's ta'en down the bush of woodbine, Hung atween her bow'r and the witch carline.
20 And he has killed the master kid That ran beneath that ladye's bed ; And he has loosed her left foot shee, And latten that ladye lighter be ; And now he has gotten a bonnie son. And meikle grace be him upon.
KEMP OWYNE; or, KEMPION.
The following ballad is collated from two diflferent versions, namely : —
I. " Kempion," printed in The Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border, vol. iii., p. 230. "Chiefly from Mrs. Brown's MS., with corrections from a recited fragment. "
II. "Kemp Owyne," printed in Minstrelsy, Ancient and Modern, p. 373.
22 BALLAD MINSTRELSY OF SCOTLAND.
In a note to "Young Hastings," Mr. Buchan states that it, and the five following-named ballads, "Reedisdale and Wise William," "Billie Archie," "Young Bearwell," "Kemp Owyne," and "Earl Richard," were sent to him, "in MS., by Mr. Nicol, Strichen, who wrote them from memory, as he had learned them in earlier years from old people." Buchan sent these MSS. to Motherwell, in whose work, above-named, they first appeared.
They were all shortly afterwards included in Buchan's Ancient Ballads and Songs, &c.
" The tale of * Kempion,' " says Sir Walter Scott, " seems, from the names of the personages and the nature of the adventure, to have been an old metrical romance, degraded into a ballad by the lapse of time and the corruption of reciters.
"Such transformations as the song narrates are common in the annals of chivalry. In the 25th and 26th cantos of the second book of the Orlando Inamorato, the paladin, Brandimarte, after sur- mounting many obstacles, penetrates into the recesses of an enchanted palace. Here he finds a fair damsel seated upon a tomb, who announces to him that, in order to achieve her deliverance, he must raise the lid of the sepulchre, and kiss whatever being should issue forth. The knight, having pledged his faith, proceeds to open the tomb, out of which a monstrous snake issues forth with a tremendous hiss. Brandimarte, with much reluctance, fulfils the bizarre con- ditions of the adventure, and the monster is instantly changed into a beautiful fairy, who loads her deliverer with benefits.
"There is a ballad somewhat resembling 'Kempion,' called 'The Laidley Worm of Spindleston-heugh,' which is very popular upon the Borders. The most common version was either entirely composed, or re-written, by the Keverend Mr. Lamb of Norham." — Minstrelsy, vol. iii., p. 230.
Mr. Motherwell considers that the copy given by him ' ' preserves in greater purity the name of the hero than any other yet published ;" and adds, "He was, no doubt, the same Ewein, or Owain, ap Urien, the king of Eeged, who is celebrated by the bards Taliessin and Llywarch-Hen, as well as in the Welch Historical Triades." — Minstrelsy, Introduction, p. Ixxxiii., note 92.
Sir Ewein was nephew to King Arthur, and cousin of Sir Gawein, who "loved" him " beste of alle other."* Segramour is styled "nevew to the Emperour of Constantynnoble ;"t and both are cele- brated among the knights of King Arthur.
1 Her mother died when she was young,
Which gave her cause to make great moan ; Her father married the warst w^oman That ever lived in Christendom.
* Merlin; or, The Early Histm-y of King Arthur, p. 455. Published by Early English Text Society.
t Same worlt, p. 373.
KEMP OWVXE.
2 Dove Isabel, with foot and hand,
In every thing that she could do, Did serve her wicked stepmother With servitude baith leal and true ;
3 Till ance in an unlucky time,
When nane were near to hear nor see, This wicked witch to her did call, "Come here, dove Isabel, to me.
4 " Come here, come here, ye freely feed,*
And lay your head low on my knee ; The heaviest weird I will you read That ever was read to gay ladye.
5 " Oh, meikle dolour shall ye dree,
And aye the salt seas shall ye swim; And far mair dolour shall ye dree,
On Estmere crags, when ye them climb.
6 "I weird ye to a fiery beast,
And borrow'd shall ye never be. Till Kemp Owyne, the king's own son, Come to the crag, and thrice kiss thee."
7 The wicked witch, her stepmother.
Then threw her in the craigy sea. Saying — " Lye you there, dove Isabel,
And all my sorrows lye with thee. ^
8 " Let all the world do what they will,
Else borrow'd shall you never be. Till Kemp Owyne come o'er the sea, And borrow you with kisses three."
9 Her breath grew Strang, her hair grew lang.
And twisted thrice about the tree ; And all the people far and near
Thought that a savage beast was she.
10 Oh, meikle dolour did she dree,
And aye the salt seas o'er she swam ; And far mair dolour did she dree On Estmere crags, ere she them clamb.
11 And aye she cried for Kemp Owyne,
" Kemp Owyne, come and borrow me ! " Till word has gane to Kemp Owyne, Where he lived far beyond the sea.
♦Sic Scott's Minstrels;/; bnt should probably read "frely feyd:" i.e., "irely," a nuble or beautiful woman; "feyd," or doomed to destruction.
24 BALLAD MINSTRELSY OF SCOTLAND.
12 " Now, by my sooth," said Kemp Owyne,
" This fiery beast I'll gang and see." " And, by my sooth," said Segramour, "My ae brother, I'll gang with thee."
13 Then bigged ha'e they a bonnie boat,
And they ha'e set her to the sea ; But a mile before they reach'd the shore, Eound them she gart the red fire flee.
14 " Oh, Segramour, ply weel your oar,
And mind ye weel how ye do steer ; For this wicked beast will fire the boat, If we to it do come ower near."
15 Syne he has bent an arblast bow,
And aim'd an arrow at her head ; And swore, if she did not hold back, With that same shaft to shoot her dciid.
16 " Oh, out of my stythe I ■vyinna rise
(And it is not for the awp of thee), Till Kemp Owyne, the king's own son, Come to the crag, and thrice kiss me."
17 Her breath was Strang, her hair was lang,
And twisted thrice about the tree ; And with a swing she came about, — " Kemp Owyne, come and kiss with me.
18 " Here is a royal belt," she cried,
" That I have found in the green sea ; And while your body it is on,
Drawn shall your blood never be ; But if you touch me tail or fin,
I vow my belt your death shall be."
19 He louted o'er, gave her a kiss.
The royal belt he brought him wi' ; Her breath was Strang, her hair was lang.
And twisted twice about the tree ; And with a swing she came about, —
" Kemp Owyne, come and kiss with me.
20 " Here is a royal ring," she said,
"That I have found in the green seaj And while your finger it is on.
Drawn shall your blood never be ; But if you touch me tail or fin,
I swear my ring your death shall be."
KEMP OWYNE. 25
21 He louted o'er, gave her a kiss,
The royal ring he brought him wi' ; Her breath was Strang, her hair was lang,
And twisted ance around the tree ; And with a swing she came about, —
" Kemp Owyne, come and kiss with me.
22 " Here is a royal brand," she said,
"That I have found in the green sea; And while your body it is on.
Drawn shall your blood never be ; But if you touch me tail or fin,
I swear my brand your death shall be."
23 He louted o'er, gave her a kiss.
The royal brand he brought him wi' ; Her breath was sweet, her hair grew short,
And twisted nane about the tree ; And smilingly she came about.
As fair a woman as fair could be.
2-1 "And by my sooth," says Kemp Owyne, " My ain true love (for this is she). They surely had a heart of stane Could put thee to such miserie.
25 " Oh, was it warwolf in the wood,
Or was it mermaid in the sea ? Or was it man, or vile woman.
My ain true love, that misshaped thee ? "
26 " It was na warvyolf in the wood.
Nor was it mermaid in the sea ; But it was my wicked stepmother, And wae and weary may she be ! "
27 " Oh, a heavier weird shall light her on
Than ever she made light on thee ; Her hair shall grow rough, and her teeth grow lang, And on her four feet gang shall she.
28 " Nane shall take pity her upon, And borrow'd shall she never be ;
But in Wormeswood she aye shall won. Till St. Mungo * come o'er the sea." • And, sighing, said that weary wight — " I doubt that day I'll never see ! "
• Or St Kentigem; the patron saint of Glasgow.
26 BALI>AD MINSTRELSr OF SCOTLAND.
ERLINTON.
"This ballad is published from the collation of two copies, obtained from recitation. It seems to be the rude original, or perhaps a corrupted and imperfect copy, of ' The Child of Elle,' a beautiful legendary tale, published in Percy's Reliques of Ancient Poetry. It is singular that this charming ballad should have been translated or imitated by the celebrated Burger, without acknowledgment of the English original. As 'The Child of Elle' avowedly received correc- tions, we may ascribe its greatest beauties to the poetical taste of the ingenious editor." — Sir Walter Scott, Minstrelsy, vol. ii., p. 351.
It is now quite certain that the Percy folio MS. ** merely suggested the poem which the editor of the Reliques wrote and printed." The fragment, as it appears in the MS. (p. 57), and in the genuine text, as printed by the Early English Text Society (vol. i., p. 132), extends to only 39 lines, but in the Reliques it is "puffed out" to 200. "Erlington," "The Child of Elle," "The Douglas Tragedy," "The Brave Earl Brand," " Eobin Hood and the Tanner's Daughter," &c., are Scotish and English ballad versions, corresponding to "Eibolt og Guldborg," or the kindred ballad, " Hildebrand og Hilde," of both which numerous versions exist in Danish and Swedish ; while of the former there are also three in Icelandic, and two in Norse. An inferior copy of "Riboltog Guldborg," translated into Scotish verse by Jamieson, was printed in Illustrations of N'orthern Antiquities,-^. 317; and "Hildebrand og Hilde " has recently been admirably rendered in English verse by Mr. Robert Buchanan, in Ballad Stories of the Affections, p. 15.
In the Introduction to his translation of "Pubolt and Guldborg," Mr. Jamieson remarks, that "those who wish to see from what kind of materials these tales [it, ' Erlinton,' &c.] have been fabricated, may compare this piece with the romantic story of Sir Sampson and Hildesvida, the daughter of Jarl Rudgeir, with which the 'Wilkina Saga ' commences."
" 'Erlington ' is much mutilated, and has a perverted conclusion, but retains," in lines 59 and 60, " a faint trace of one charac- teristic, and even fundamental trait of the older forms of the story, which is not found in any of the other [Scotish or] English versions."
It is founded on " a northern superstition, that to call a man by name while he was engaged in fight was a fatal omen ; and hence a phrase, ' to name-to-death.' To avert this danger, Ribolt, in nearly all the Scandinavian ballads, entreats Guldborg not to pronounce Ids name, even if she sees him bleeding or struck down. In her agony at seeing the last of her brothers about to be slain, Guldborg forgets her lover's injunction, calls on him by name to stop, and thus brings about the catastrophe. Ignorant reciters have either dropped the corresponding passage in the English ballad, or (as in this case) have so corrupted it, that its significance is only to be made out by com- parison with the ancient copies." — Prof. Child, English and Scottish Ballads, vol. ii., p. 114, and vol. iii., p. 223.
The explanatory foot-notes [marked S.] are from the pen of Sir Walter Scott.
EELINTON. 27
1 Erlinton had a fair daughter,
I wot he weired her in a great sin ; * For he has built a bigly bower, And all to put that lady in.
2 And he has warn'd her sisters six,
And sae has he her brethren seven. Either to watch her all the night, Or else to seek her morn and even.
3 She hadna been in that bigly bower
Not a night, but barely ane. Till there was Willie, her ain true love,
Chapp'd at the door, crying — " Peace within ! "
4 "Oh, whae is this at my bower door,
That chaps sae late, or kens the gin ? " f "Oh, it is Willie, your ain true love; I pray you rise and let me in ! "
5 " Within my bower there is a waik.
And of the waik there is nae wane ; J But I'll come to the green-wood the morn, Where blooms the brier, by momin' dawn."
6 Then she has gane to her bed again.
Where she has layen till the cock crew thrice ; And then she said to her sisters all — " Maidens, 'tis time for us to rise."
7 She put on her back a silken gown,
And on her breast a siller pin. And she 's ta'en a sister in ilka hand. And to the green-wood she is gane.
8 She hadna walk'd in the gude green-wood,
Na, not a mile but barely ane, Till there was Willie, her ain true love, Whae frae her sisters has her ta'en.
• " Weired her in a great sin: " placed her in danger of c6mniitting a great sin. [S.1 Bead "weised," from "weise," to incline, to induce. Gcerman, "weisen," to lead into. Or "weired" may be derived from " weire, " to guard; and this from "weir," doubt, or fear: "belgic vaer," fear — Anglo-Saxon, " waere," caution. See Jamieson's Scottish IHctionary. I. e., her father "feared," and "guarded " against what he appi"e- hended.
t "Gin : " the slight or trick necessary to open the door. [S.]
t "Wane: " a number of people. [S.] Scott's teit of the first two hnes of stanza 5 reads —
"But in my bower there is a wake. And at the wake there is a wane; " regarding which, it may be remarked, that the spelling and note on " wane " make sheer nonsense of the verse. "Waik" means watch; and "wane,"' want, defect, carelessness. See Jamieson's Scottish Dictionary.
28 BALLAD MINSTRELSY OF SCOTLAND.
9 He took her sisters by the band,
He kiss'd them baith, and sent them hame ; And he 's ta'en his true love him behind, And through the green-wood they are gane.
10 They hadna ridden in the bonnie green-wood,
Na, not a mile but barely ane, When there came fifteen of the boldest knights That ever bare flesh, blood, or bane.
11 The foremost was an aged knight,
He wore the gray hair on his chin ; Says — " Yield to me thy lady bright, And thou shalt walk the woods within."
12 " For me to yield my lady bright,
To such an aged knight as thee. People wou'd think I were gane mad, Or all the courage flown frae me."
13 But up then spake the second knight, —
I wot he spake right boustouslie, —
" Yield me thy life, or thy lady bright,
Or here the tane * of us shall die."
14 " My lady is my world's meed,
My life I winna yield to nane; But if ye be men of true manhood, Ye'll only fight me ane by ane."
15 He lighted off his milk-white horse,
And gae 'm his lady by the head, Saying — " See you dinna change your cheer, Until you see my body bleed."
16 He set his back into an aik,
He set his feet against a stane ; And he has fought these fifteen men,
And kill'd them all but barely ane; But he has left the aged knight,
For to carry the tidings hame.
17 When he gaed to his lady fair,
I wot he kiss'd her tenderlie : " Thou'rt mine ain love, I have thee bought; And we shall walk the green-wood free."
• "Tane: " one or other.
THE DOUGLAS TRAGEDY. 29
THE DOUGLAS TRAGEDY,
"The ballad of 'The Douglas Tragedy' is one of the few to which popular tradition has ascribed complete locaUty. The farm of Blackhouse, in Selkirkshire, is said to have been the scene of this melancholy event. There are the remains of a very ancient tower, adjacent to the farm-house, in a wild solitary glen, upon a torrent named Douglas Bum, which joins the Yarrow after passing a craggy rock called the Douglas Craig. From this ancient tower, Lady Margaret is said to have been carried by her lover. Seven large stones, erected upon the neighbouring heights of Blackhouse, are shown as marking the spot where the seven brothers were slain ; and the Douglas Burn is averred to have been the stream at which the lovers stopped to drink. So minute is tradition in ascertaining the scene of a tragical tale, which, considering the rude state of former times, had probably foundation in some real event.
"Many copies of this ballad are current among the vulgar, but chiefly in a state of great corruption, especially such as have been committed to the press in the shape of penny pamphlets. One of these is now before me, which, among many others, has the ridiculous error of ^blue gilded horn,' for ^bugelet horn.' The copy principally used in this [Scott's] edition of the ballad was supplied by Mr. Charles K. Sharpe. The three last verses are given from the printed copy, and from tradition. The hackneyed verse, of the rose and the brier springing from the grave of the lovers, is common to most tragic ballads ; but it is introduced into this with singular propriety, as the chapel of St. Mary, whose vestiges may be still traced upon the lake to which it has given name, is said to have been the burial- place of Lord William and fair Margaret. The wrath of the Black Douglas, which vented itself upon the brier, far surpasses the usual stanza : —
' At length came the clerk of the parish, As you the truth shall hear. And by mischance he cut them down, Or else they had still been there.' "
— Sir W. Scott, Minstrelsy, vol. iii., p. 3.
^ Motherwell adopted " the copy given in the work from which the above extract has been taken;" and says, " any recited copy that we have heard has been incomplete, wanting not only the circum- stance of the lovers halting at the stream, but likewise that of their death and burial."
The latter editor appended to his prefatory note, above quoted, five verses of an incomplete ' ' recited copy, " such as he refers to. This fragment "supplies variations," some of which are here adopted in verses 4, G, and 8. Other slight alterations have been made on the verses named, and also on most of the subsequent verses — generally by repetition of one or two words from preceding lines — so as to restore the uniform harmony of the metre ; but in no case has the sense, or ordinary phraseology of the ballad, been tampered with.
With reference to Sir Walter Scott's remarks on the localities of this ballad, as above quoted, and a similar identification as to place
30 BALLAD MINSTRELSY OF SCOTLAND.
of some of the incidents in "Kibolt and Giddborg," by Grundtvig (pp. 342-3), the following observation of Jamieson, relative to the transposition of person, and of the unities of time and place, to widely different scenes and periods of action, is peculiarly applicable: —
' ' Popular tales and anecdotes of every kind soon obtain locality wherever they are told j and the intelligent and attentive traveller will not be surprised to find the same story which he had learned when a child, with every appropriate circumstance of names, time, and place, in a glen of Morven, Lochaber, or Rannoch, equally domesticated among the mountains of Norw^ay, Caucasus, or Thibet." — Illti8trations qf Northern Antiquities, p. 317.
1 " Rise up, rise up, now, Lord Douglas," she says,
"And put on your armour so bright ; Let it never be said that a daughter of thine Was married to a lord under night,
2 " Rise up, rise up, my seven bold sons,
And put on your armour so bright ; And take better care of your youngest sister, For your eldest 's away the last night."
3 He 's mounted her on a milk-white steed.
And himself on a dapple gray. With a bugelet horn hung down by his side, And liglitly they baith rade away.
4 Lord William look'd over his left shoulder —
He look'd to see what he could see — And he spy'd her fc^her and brethren bold, Come riding hastily over the lea.
6 " Light down, light down, Lady Marg'ret," he said, "And hold my steed in your hand. Until that against your seven brethren bold, And your father I make a stand."
6 She held his steed in her milk-white hand.
But spake not, nor shed not a tear. Until that she saw her seven brethren fall, And the blood of her father so dear.
7 " Oh, hold your hand, Lord William ! " she said,
" For your strokes they are wondrous sair ; True lovers I can get many a ane. But a father I can never get mair."
8 Oh, she 's ta'en her kerchief from off her neck —
It was of the holland sae fine — And aye she wiped her father's bloody wounds, That were redder than the wine.
THE DOUGLAS TRAGEDY. 31
9 " Oh chuse, oh chnse, Lady Marg'ret," he said, " Oh, whether will ye gang or bide ? " " I'll gang, I'll gang. Lord William," she said, "Ye have left me no other guide."
10 He 's lifted her on a milk-white steed,
And himself on a dapple gray, With a bugelet hom hung down by his side. And slowly they baith rade away.
11 Oh, they rade slowly and sadly on.
And all by the light of. the moon ; They rade till they came to yon wan water, And there they alighted them down.
12 They alighted them down to take a drink
Of the water that ran so clear; And down the stream ran his gude heart's blood, And sair Lady Marg'ret did fear.
13 " Hold up, hold up. Lord William," she says,
" For 1 fear me that you are slain!"
" 'Tis but the shadow of my scarlet cloak
That shines in the water sae plain."
14 Oh, they rade slowly and sadly on,
And all by the light of the moon. Until they came to his mother's hall door. And there they alighted them down.
15 " Get up, get up, lady mother," he says,
'* Get up, get up and let me in ! — Get up, get up, lady mother," he says, "For this night my fair lady I've win.
16 " Oh, make my bed, lady mother," he says,
" Oh, make my bed baith braid and deep! And lay Lady Marg'ret close at my back, And the sounder we baith will sleep."
17 Lord William was dead lang ere midnight.
Lady Marg'ret was dead lang ere day ; And all true lovers that go thegither. May they have better luck than they !
18 Lord William was buried in St. Marie's kirk,
Lady Marg'ret in St, IMarie's quire ; Out of the lady's grave grew a red rose, And out of the knight's grew a brier.
32 BALLAD MINSTRELSY OF SCOTLAND.
19 And they twa they met, and they twa they plat,
As if full fain they wou'd be near ; Sae that all the world might ken right weel That they grew frae twa lovers dear.*
20 But by chance that way the Black Douglas rade,
And wow but he was rude and rough ! For he pull'd up the bonnie, bonnie brier, And fiang it in St. Marie's Loch.
THE BRAVE EARL BRAND AND THE KING OF ENGLAND'S DAUGHTER.
"Taken down from the recitation of an old fiddler in Northum- berland. The refrain should be repeated in every verse." — Bell's Ancient Poems, Ballads, and Songs, &c., p. 122.
Verse 2 has been slightly altered in the interest of delicacy and perspicuity.
Verses 5 and 6 are here inserted in place of verse 5 of the original, which reads, —
" Oh, Earl Brand, but my father has two, And thou shall have the best of tho"."
An hiatus, in verse 11, has been filled by the addition of the four last words, while the last word, of the first line of the same verse, has been changed for the sake of the rhyme. Three words have also been added to verse 26.
The alterations and additions referred to are sanctioned by, and mostly derived from, a similar ballad, named " Leesome Brand," which appears in a subsequent portion of this work.
1 Oh, did you ever hear of the brave Earl Brand,
Hey lillie, ho lillie lallie; He courted the king's daughter of fair England, In the brave nights so early.
2 She was scarcelj' fifteen years old, When to Earl Brand she came right bold.
* If the testimony of numerous minstrels in different lands and ages may be credited, the miracle here narrated in stanzas 18 and 19 was " frequently witnessed over the graves of faithful lovers. King Mark, according to the German romance, planted a rose on Tristan's grave, and a vine on that of Isold. The roots struck down into the very hearts of the dead lovers, and the stems twined lovingly together. The French account is somewhat different. An eglantine sprung from the tomb of Tristan, and twisted itself round the monument of Isold. It was cut down three times, but grew up every morning fresher tlian before; so that it was allowed to stand.'" Several other instances of this miraculous phenomenon occur in this volume; in Swedish, Danish, and Breton ballad lore; '• in a Servian tale, cited by Salvi (Vertuch, &c., p. 139); and in an Afghan poem, described by Elphin- stone " (Account of the Kingd'^m qf Cabul, vol. i., p. 295). — Prof. Child's Snglufi and Scottish Ballads, voL ii., p. li9.
THE BRAVE EARL BRAND. 33
3 " Oh, Earl Brand, how fain would I see A pack of hounds let loose on the lea."
4 " Oh, lady fair, I have no steed but one; But thou shalt ride, and I will run."
5 " Go, Earl Brand, to my father's stable, And bring me a palfrey wight and able."
6 Earl Brand he did as the lady bade,
And when they were mounted, away they rade.
7 Now they have ridden o'er moss and moor, And they have met neither rich nor poor j
8 Till at last they met with old Carl Hood, — He 's aye for ill, and never for good.
9 " Now, Earl Brand, an' ye love me, Slay this old carl, and gar him dee."
10 " Oh, lady fair, but that would be sair, To slay an old carl that wears gray hair ;
11 " My own lady fair, I'll not do so ; I'll pay bim his fee, a.nd let him go."
12 " Oh, where have ye ridden this lee-lang daj^, Atid where have ye stown this faii:^ lady away?"
13 " I have not ridden this lee-lang day, Nor yet have I stown this lady away ;
14 " For she is, I trow, my sick sister,
Whom I have been bringing frae Winchester,"
15 " If she 's been sick, and like to die. What makes her wear the gold so high ? "
16 When came the carl to her father's j'ett. He loudly and rudely rapp'd thereat.
17 " Now, where is the lady of this hall ? "
" She 's out with her maids a-playing at the ball."
18 " Ha, ha, ha ! ye are all mista'en.
Ye may count your maidens o'er again.
19 " I met her far beyond the lea.
With the young Earl Brand, his leman to be." D
34 BALLAD MINSTRELSY OF SCOTLAND.
20 Her father of his best men armed fifteen, ' And they're ridden after them bidene.
21 The lady look'd o'er her left shoulder then, And saw her father and hig fifteen men ;
22 Says — " Oh, Earl Brand, we are both of us ta'en, And it fears me much that you will be slain."
23 " Oh, if they come on me one by one, You may stand by till the tights be done ;
24 " But if they come on me one and all, Then you may stand by and see me fall,"
25 They came upon him one by one, Till fourteen battles he has won;
26 And fourteen [brave] men he has them slain, Eacli after each [they fell] on the plain.
27 But the fifteenth man behind him stole round. And dealt him a deep and a deadly wound;
28 But though he was wounded to the deid. He set his fair lady again on her steed.
29 They rode till they came to the river Doune, And there they alighted to wash his wound.
30 " Oh, Earl Brand, I see your heart's blood ! "
" It's nothing but the glent and my scarlet hood."
31 They rode till they came to his mother's yett ; So faintly and feebly he rapp'd thereat.
32 " Oh, my son 's slain, he is falling to swoon, And it 's all for the sake of an English loon."
33 " Oh, say not so, my dearest mother, But marry her to my youngest brother."
34 To a maiden true he will give his hand,
Hey lillic, ho lillie lallie; To the king's daughter of fair England, To a prize won by a slain brother's brand,
In the brave nights so early.
THE BENT SAE BROWN.
THE BENT SAE BROWN.
From Buchan's Ancient Ballads and Songs, voL i., p. 30.
In some portions of the story this ballad resembles ' ' The Douglas Tragedy," and other kindred ballads, which immediately precede this; and also "Lady Elspat," "Sweet Willie and Lady Margerie," and "Clerk Saunders," which immediately follow this, in the order named.
1 " There are sixteen lang miles, I'm sure,
Between my love and me ; There are eight of them on gude dry land, And other eight by sea.
2 " Betide me life, betide me death,
My love I'll gang and see; Altho' her friends they do me hate, Her love is great for me.
3 " Of my coat I'll make a boat,
And of my sark a sail ; And of my cane a gude topmast, Dry land till I come till."
i Then of his coat he made a boat, And of his sark a sail; And of his cane a gude topmast, Dry land till he come till.
6 Then he is on to Annie's bow'r, And tirl'd at the pin ; " Oh, sleep ye, wake ye, love Annie? Rise up, and let me in."
6 " Oh, who is this at my bow'r door,
Sae well that kens my name ? "
" It is your true love, sweet Willie ;
For you I've cross'd the faem."
7 "I am deeply sworn, Willie,
By father and by mother, At kirk or market where v/e meet. We darena own each other.
" And I am deeply sworn, Willie, By my bauld brothers three,
At kirk or market where we meet, I dareua speak to thee.
36 BALLAD MINSTRELSY OF SCOTLAND.
9 '* Ye take your red fan in your hand, Your white fan o'er your een, And ye may swear, and save your oath, You saw na me come in."
10 She 's ta'en her red fan in her hand,
The white fan o'er her een ; It was to swear and save her oath, She saw na him come in.
11 They hadna kiss'd, nor yet love clapp'd,
As lovers do when they meet, Till up it starts her auld mither At her bauld sons' bed feet.
12 " Win up, win up, my three bauld sons,
Win up, and make ye boun' ; Your sister's lover 's in her bow'r, As ye lye sleeping soun'."
13 Then up it raise her three bauld sons.
With swords baith sharp and Strang, And they are to their sister's bow'r As fast as they could gang.
14 When they came to their sister's bow'r,
They sought it up and down ; But there was neither man nor boy In her bow'r to be foun'.
15 Then out it speaks the first of them —
"We'll gang and let her be ; For there is neither man nor boy Intill her companie."
IG Then out it speaks the second son — " Our travel's all in vain; But mother dear, nor father dear, Shall break our rest again."
17 Then out it speaks the third of them,
(An ill death mat he die !) — " We'll lurk amang the bent sae brown, That Willie we may see."
18 He stood behind his love's curtains.
His goud rings show'd him light ; And by this ye may all weel guess He was a renown'd knight.
THE BENT SAE BROWN. 37
19 He 's done him to his love's stable.
Took out his berry -brown steed ; His love stood in her bow'r door, Her heart was like to bleed.
20 " OhjUiourn ye for my coming, love?
Or for my short staj'ing ? Or mourn ye for our safe sind'ring. Case we never meet again?"
21 " I mourn nae for your here coming, —
To meet ye I am fain ; Nor mourn I for our safe sind'ring, — I hope we'll meet again,
22 " I wish ye may won safe away,
And safely frae the town ; For ken ye not my brothers three Are 'mang the bent sae brown?"
23 " If I were on my nut-brown steed,
And three miles frae the town, I wouldna fear your baiild brothers, Amang the bent sae brown."
24 He lean'd him o'er his saddle bow,
And kiss'd her lips sae sweet ; The tears that fell between these twa. They wet his great steed's feet.
25 But he wasna on his ni:t-brown steed.
Nor twa miles frae the town. Till up it starts these three fierce men, Amang the bent sae brown.
26 Then up they came, these three fierce men,
When one did loudly say, — " Bide still, bide still, ye cowardly youth, What makes you haste away ?
27 " For I must know before you go,
Tell me, and make nae lie; If ye've been in my sister's bow'r, My hands shall gar ye die."
28 " Though I've been in your sister's bow'r,
I have nae fear of thee ; ril stand my ground, and fiercely fight, And shall gain victorie."
BALLAD MINSTRELSY OF SCOTtAXD.
29 " Now I entreat you for to stay.
Unto us give gude heed; If ye our Avords do not obey, I'se gar your body bleed."
30 " I have nae armour," says Willie,
" Unless it be my brand ; And that shall guard my fair body, Till I win frae your hand."
31 Then twa of them stepp'd in behind.
All in a furious meed ; The third of them came him before. And seiz'd his nut-brown steed.
32 Oh, then he drew his trusty brand,
That hung down by bis gare ; And he has slain these three fierce men. And left them sprawling there.
33 Then word has gane to their mother.
In bed where she slept soun', That Willie had kill'd her three bauld sons, Amang the bent sae brown.
34 Then she has cut the locks that hung
Sae low down bj' her e'e ; Sae has she kiltit her green claithing A little aboon her knee.
35 And she has on to the king's court.
As fast as gang could she ; When fair Annie got word of that. Was there as soon as she.
3G Her mother went before the king, Fell low down on her knee ; " Win up, win up, my dame," he said, " What is your will with me ? "
37 " My wills they are not small, my liege,
The truth I'll tell to thee : There is ane of your courtly knights That last night has robb'd me."
38 "And has he broke your bigly bow'rs,
Or has he stole your fee ? There is nae knight into my court Last night has been frae me ;
LADY ELSPAT, 89
39 " Unless 'twas Willie of Lauderdale,
Forbid that it be he ! " " And by my sooth," says the auld woman, " That very man is he.
40 " For he has broke my bigly bow'rs.
And be has stole my fee ; And made ray daughter his leman, And an ill woman is she.
41 " That was not all he did to me,
Ere he went frae the town ; My sons sae true he fiercely slew, Amang the bent sae brown."
42 Tlien out it spake her daughter Ann, —
She stood by the king's knee, — " Ye lie, ye lie, my mother dear, Sae loud 's I hear you lie.
43 " He has not broke your bigly bow'rs.
Nor has he stole your fee ; Nor made your daughter his leman, — A good woman I'll be.
44 " And he might be forgiven, though
Your three bauld sons he 's slain ; They were well clad in armour bright. My love with brand alane."
45 " Well spoke, well spoke," the king replied,
" This talking pleases me ; For ae kiss of your lovely mouth I'll set your true love free."
46 She's ta'en the king in her arms twa,
And kiss'd him cheek and chin ; He then set her behind her love, And they went singing hame.
LADY ELSPAT.
From Jamieson's Popular Ballads, vol. ii., p. 191, where it is said to be given " from the recitation of Mrs. Brown."
1 " How brent 's your brow, my Lady Elspat ! How gowden yellow is your hair! Of all the maids of fair Scotland, There 's nane like Lady Elspat fair."
40 BALLAD MINSTRELSY OF SCOTLAND.
2 " Perform your vows, sweet William," she says,
" The vows which you have made to me; And at the back of my mither's castle This night I'll surely meet with thee."
3 But wae be to her brother's page,
That heard the words the twa did say; He tauld them to her lady mither,
Wha wrought sweet William mickle wae.
4 For she has ta'en him, sweet William,
And she gar'd bind him with his bow string, Till the red bluid of his fair body Frae ilka nail of his hand did spring.
5 Oh, it fell ance upon a time.
That the Lord-justice came to town; Out has she ta'en him, sweet William,
Brought him before the Lord-justice boun',
G " And what is the crime now, lady," he says. " That has by this young man been done?" " Oh, lie has broken my bonnie castle, That was weel biggit with lime and stone;
7 " And he has broken my bonnie coffer,
That was weel bandit with aiken band; And he has stown my rich jewels. My jewels costly rare and grand."
8 Then out it spake fair Lady Elspat,
As she sat by Lord-justice knee; " Now ye lia'e told your tale, mither, I pray, Lord-justice, ye'll now hear me.
9 " He hasna broken her bonnie castle.
That was weel biggit with lime and stone; Nor has he stown her rich jewels; For I wot she has them every one.
10 But though he was my first true love.
And though I had sworn to be his bride, Because he hasna a great estate,
She wou'd this day our loves divide."
11 Syne out and spake the Lord-justice —
I wot the tear was in his e'e, — " I see na faut in this young man; Sae loose his bands, and set him free.
SWEET WILLIE AND LADY JIARGERIE. 41
12 " And take your love, now, Lady Elspat,
And my best blessing ye baith upon; For if he be your first true love, He is my eldest sister's son.
13 " There stands a steed in my stable.
Cost me baith gold and white money; Ye 's get as mickle of my free land As he'll ride about in a summer's day."
SWEET WILLIE AND LADY MAKGERIE.
" This ballad," says Mr. Motherwell, " which possesses considerable beauty and pathos, is given from the recitation of a lady now far advanced in years, with whose grandmother it was a deserved favourite. It is now for the first time printed." — Miimtrelsy, Ancient and Modern, p. 370.
Biichau styles Motherwell's "an imperfect copy," and gives another and longer ballad "on a similar subject," under the title of "Willie and Lady Maisry." — Ancient Ballads and Songs, vol. i., p. 155.
The present version is compiled from both. It not only resembles "The Bent sae Brown," p. 35, but also "Clerk Saunders," the ballad which follows this, as well as "Johnnie Scott," and "Lang Johnnie Moir," which subsequently appear.
1 Sweet Willie was a widow's son,
And he wore a milk-white weed, 0 ; And weel could Willie read and write, Far better ride on steed, 0.
2 Lady Margerie was the first ladye
That drank to him the wine, 0 ; And aye as the healths gaed round and round, " Laddie, your love is mine, 0."
3 Lady Margerie was the first ladye
That drank to him the beer, 0 ; And aye as the healths gaed round and round, " Laddie, ye're welcome here, 0.
4 " You must come intill my bow'r,
When the evening bells do ring, 0; And you must come intill my bow'r. When the evening mass doth sing, 0."
5 He 's ta'en four-and-twenty braid arrows,
And laced them in a whang, 0 ; And he 's awa to Lady Margerie's bow'r, As fast as he can gang, 0.
42 BALLAD MINSTRELSY OF SCOTLAND.
G He set his ae foot on the wall, And the other on a stane, 0 ; And he 's kill'd all the king's life guards, He 's kill'd them every man, 0.
7 Then he is on to Margerie's bow'r,
And tirl'd at the pin, 0 ; " Oh, open, open. Lady Margerie, Open and let me in, 0."
8 With her feet as white as sleet,
She strode her bow'r within, 0;
And with her fingers lang and small,
She 'a looten sweet Willie in, 0.
9 She 's looted down unto his foot,
To louze sweet Willie's shoon, 0;
The buckles they were stiflF with bluid,
That on them had drapt doon, 0.
10 " What frightful sight is this, my love,
Is this that I do see, 0 ? What bluid is this j'e're cloated with, I pray you tell to me, 0."
11 " As I came thro' the woods this night,
A wolf maist worried me, 0; Oh, shou'd I slain the wolf, Margerie? Or shou'd it worried me, 0? '^
12 " 0 Willie, 0 Willie, I fear that thou
Hast bred me dule and sorrow; The deed that thou hast done this night, Will kythe upon the morrow."
13 They had not kiss'd, nor yet love clapp'd,
As lovers when they meet, O; Till up it starts her auld father Out of his drowsy sleep, 0.
14 Then he is on to Margerie's bow'r,
And tirl'd at the pin, 0 ; Saying — " Wake ye, daughter Margerie, Wake up, and let me in, 0."
15 Between the curtains and the wall,
She had her lover in, 0; Then hooly to the door she went, And let her father in, 0.
SWEET WILLIE AND LADY MARGEKIE. 43
16 " What 's become of your Maries all,
That nane your bow'r are in, 0? What 's become of your green covering, That your beds they are sae thin, 0? "
17 " Oh, Gude forgi'e you, father," she said,
" That you even me to sin, 0 ; That you dread me for, and watch me for. But never find me in, 0."
18 He turn'd him right and round about,
As he'd been gaun awa, 0 ; But stealthily he slippet in Behind a screen sae sma', 0.
19 Sweet Willie came frae his retreat.
And ere they were aware, 0,
Her auld father did give to him
A deep wound and a sair, 0.
20 " Oh, Gude forgi'e you, father," she said,
" Forgi'e this deadly sin, 0 ; That thus my ain true love is slain By you, my bow'r within, 0 ! "
21 " Tliis night he slew my gude bold watch,
Thirty stout men and twa, 0 ;
And likewise slew your ae brother,
To me was worth them a', 0."
22 " If he has slain my ae brother.
The blame it was his ain, 0 ;
For many a day he plots contriv'd
To ha'e sweet Willie slain, 0.
23 " Tho' he has slain your gude bold watch,
He might ha'e been forgi'en, 0 ; For thoy came on him in armour bright. As alane he cross'd the green, 0.
24 ''Oh, Gude forgi'e you, my auld father,
For tlie ill you've made me dree, 0 ;
For ye've killed Willie, the widow's son,
And he would have married me, 0."
2,'j She turn'd her back unto the room. Her face unto the wa', 0 ; And with a deep and heavy sigh, Her heart it brake in twa, 0.
44 BALLAD MINSTRELSY OF SCOTLAND.
CLEEK SAUNDERS.
First published by Sir Walter Scott, Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border, vol. iii., p. 175.
"This romantic ballad," says Sir Walter, "is taken from Mr. Herd's MSS., with sevei-al corrections from a shorter and more im- perfect copy, in the same volume, and one or two conjectural emendations in the arrangement of the stanzas. The resemblance of the conclusion to the ballad beginning, ' There came a ghost to Margaret's door,' will strike every reader. The tale is uncommonly wild and beautiful, and apparently very correct. The custom of the passing bell is still kept up in many villages in Scotland. The sexton goes through the town ringing a small bell, and announcing the death of the departed, and the time of the funeral. The three concluding verses have been recovered since the first edition of this work ; and I am informed by the recitei-, that it was usual to separate from the rest that part of the ballad which follows the death of the lovers, as belonging to another story. For this, however, there seems no necessity, as other authorities give the whole as a complete tale."
A second version was published by Mr. Jamieson, Popular Ballads, &c., vol. i, p. 80, "which, though of inferior beaiity, is not the less valuable, as illustrating the transmutations to which tradi- tionary song is inevitably subjected."
"Nothing," says Jamieson, "could have been better imagined than the circumstance in Mr. Scott's copy, of killing Clerk Saunders while his mistress was asleep (stanza 13) ; nor can anything be more natural or pathetic than the two stanzas that follow. They might have charmed a whole volume of bad poetry against the ravages of time ; in Mr. Scott's volumes they shine but like pearls among diamonds."
Jamieson's version was, as he states, mainly "transmitted by Mrs. Arrott, of Aberbrothick. " Stanzas 1 and 2 are thence taken, "because," as stated by Motherwell, "they supply information as to the rank in society respectively held by these ill-fated lovers; and by hinting at the scholastic acquirements of Clerk Saunders, they prepare us for the casuistry by which he seeks to reconcile May Margaret's conscience to a most Jesuitical oath." For verses extracted from Jamieson's version, see following baUad.
A third version of Part I. was published by Kinloch — AncieM Scottish Ballads, p. 233 — and is there styled "the North Country version of this popular and pathetic ballad." It is followed by an imperfect copy of "Sweet William and May Margaret," which Mr. Kinloch confounds with the concluding portion of Scott's version of this present ballad.
A fourth version, named " Clerk Sandy," was published by Buchan, Ancient Ballads and Songs, Sec, vol. i., p. 160.
Scott's version is greatly superior to any of the others, and is here generally followed; but stanzas 10, 12, 17, and 18, of the present
CLERK SAUNDERS. 45
collated version, are either wholly or partly derived from Kinloch's ; and stanzas 21, 22, 23, from Buchan's versions, above referred to.
Part I. resembles the preceding ballad, and has its counterpart in the Swedish ballad, "Den Grymma Brodern," Svenska Folk- Visor, No. 86 (translated in Literature and Romance of North Europe, p. 519) ; and in the Spanish ballad, " De la Blanca Mina," in the Momanccro de Amheres.
Part II. resembles the ballad which follows, and " Aage og Else," Grundtvig, No. 90 (translated by Robert Buchanan, in Ballad Stories of the Affections, from the Scandinavian, p. 112).
Variations to stanzas 34 and 35, from the following ballad — ■ " Sweet William's Ghost " — are noted under those stanzas, p. 48.
PAKT I.
Clerk Saunders was an earl's son, He lived upon the salt sea strand;
May Margaret was a king's daughter, She lived away in upper land.
Clerk Saunders was an earl's son, He was weel learn'd at the scheel ;
May Margaret was a king's daughter ; — They baith did lo'e each ither weel.
Clerk Saunders and May Margaret Walk'd fondly o'er yon garden green ;
And sad and heavy was the love
That fell the Clerk and May between.
" A bed, a bed," Clerk Saunders said, " A bed, fair May, for you and me ! "
" Fye na, fye na," said May Margaret, " Till ance that Ave twa married be.
" For in may come my seven brothers, With torches burning red and bright;
They'll say — ' We ha'e but ae sister, And, behold, she 's sleeping with a knight ! ' "
" Then take the brand frae out my hand,
And with it slowly lift the pin ; And you may swear, and safe your aith,
Ye never let Clerk Saunders in.
" And take a napkin in your hand, And tie up baith your bonnie een ;
And you may swear, and safe your aith, Ye saw me na since late yestreen."
46 BALLAD MINSTRELSY OF SCOTLAND.
8 It was about the midnight hour,
When soundly they asleep were laid, That in and came her seven brothers, With torches burning bright and red.
9 When in and came her seven brothers,
With torches burning red and bright, They said — " We ha'e but ae sister, And behold her sleeping with a knight I "
10 Oh, out it speaks the first of them,
" We will awa and let them be ; "
Then out it speaks the second of them,
" His father has nae mair but he."
11 And out and spake the third of them,
" I wot that they are lovers dear ; " And out and spake the fourth of them,
" They ha'e been in love this mony a year."
12 Then out it speaks the fifth of them,
" It were a sin to do them ill ; " Then out it spake the sixth of them, " 'Twere shame a sleeping man to kill."
13 Then up and gat the seventh of them,
And never a word spake he ; But he has striped his bright brown brand Out through Clerk Saunders' fair bodye.
14 Clerk Saunders he started, and Margaret she turn'd
Into his arms, as asleep she lay ; And sad and silent was the night That was atween these lovers twae.
15 And she lay still and sleeped sound,
Until the day began to daw ; Then kindly to him she did say,
" It is time, true love, you were awa."
16 But he lay still, as sleeping sound.
Albeit the sun began to sheen ; She looked atween her and the wall. And dull and drumlie were his een.
17 May Margaret turn'd the blankets down,
The sheet she turn'd it to the wall ; And when she saw his bluidj' wound. Her tears they bitterly did fall.
CLERK SAUNDERS. 47
18 " Oh, wae be to ye, my fause brothers,
Ay, and an ill death may ye dee, Ye have slain Clerk Saunders, my true love, That loved and would ha'e wedded me."
19 Then in and came her father dear;
Said— ^" Margaret, let your mourning be; I'll carry the dead corpse to the clay. And then come back and comfort thee."
20 " Comfort ye weel your seven sons.
For comforted will I never be ; I ween 'twas neither knave nor lown Was in the bow'r last night with me."
21 " Oh, hold your tongue, my daughter dear,
Oh, hush, and let your mourning be; I'll wed you to a higher match
Than e'er his father's son could be."
22 " Wed well, wed well your seven sons,
I wish ill wedded they may be; For they have kill'd my ain true love, Wha loved and would ha'e wedded me.
23 " Wed well, wed well your seven sons,
But ill deaths may the dastards dee; For they have slain my ain true love, And wedded shall I never be."
Part II.
24 The clinking bell gaed through the town,
The corpse was laid in kindred clay ; And the ghost at Margaret's window stood An hour before the dawn of day.
25 " Oh, if ye sleep, then wake, Margaret,
Or if ye wake, then list to me ; Give me my faith and troth again, I wot, true love, I gave to thee."
2G " Your faith and troth ye shall never get, Nor our true love shall never twin. Until ye come within my bow'r,
And kiss me ance mair cheek and chin,"
27 " My mouth it is full cold, Margaret,
Its smell is now both rank and Strang; And if I kiss thy comely mouth. Thy days of life will not be lang.
48 BALIJ^D MINSTRELSY OF SCOTLAND.
28 " Oh, cocks are crowing a merry midnight ;
I wot, the wild-fowls are boding day ; Give me my faith and troth again, And let me fare upon my way.
29 " Oh, cocks are crowing a merry midnight;
I wot, the wild-fowls are boding day ; The psalms of heaven will soon be sung, And I ere now will be missed away."
30 Then she has ta'en a crystal wand,
She has stroken her troth thereon, And given it out at the shot window, With mony a sigh and heavy groan.
31 " I thank ye, Marg'ret, I thank ye, Marg'rct,
And aye I thank ye heartilie ; If ever the dead come for the quick. Be sure, Marg'ret, I'll come for thee."
32 "She waited not for gown nor hose,
Nor yet for shoon, to put them onf But up she got and follow'd him, And to the kirkyard she has gone.
33 She climb'd the wall and follow'd him
Into the kirkyard all alone ; Then stood beside his new-made grave, And thus she made her heavy moan :
34 " Is there ony room at your head, Saunders?
Is there ony room at your feet ? Or ony room at your side, Saunders, Where fain, fain I would sleep ? " *
35 " There is nae room at my head, Marg'ret,
And there is nae room at my feet ; My bed it is full lowly now :
Amang the hungry Avorms I sleep. f
36 " Cauld mould it is my covering now.
And cauld mould my winding sheet: Tlie dew it falls nae sooner down. Than my resting-place is weet.
* " Wherein that I may creep."
t " There 's nae room at my side, Marg'ret, My coffin's made bo meet"
WIT AT NEED, 49
37 " But plait a wand of bonnie birk,
And lay the wand upon my breast ; And shed a tear upon my grave, And wish ye for my saul gude rest.
38 " And fair Marg'ret, and rare Marg'ret,
And fair Marg'ret of veritie, If ever ye love another man, Never love him as ye did me."
39 Then up and crew the milk-white cock,
And up and loudly crew the gray ; Her lover vanish'd in the air,
And she gaed sadly weeping away.
WIT AT NEED.
The following verses are taken from Jamieson'a version of " Clerk Saunders," into which they appear to have been introduced errone- ously by some reciter, as similar verses occur apart in Danish (Danske, v., No. 204, and Arwidsson, I., 358). They also resemble the Scotish song, "Hame cam' our gudeman at e'en," first printed by Herd (vol. ii. , p. 74), and one of the same description in the Danish {Kcempe Viser, p. 709), translated by Jamieson, in Northern Anti- quities, p. 424, where it appears under the heading given above. The two last lines of stanzas 2 and 5 are here added to fill tip the hiatus of the original ; and the first word of stanzas 3 and 6 is in conse- quence altered from "But" to "Then." The second lines of stanzas 2 and 5 are somewhat nonsensical.
1 " Oh, tell us, tell us, May Margaret,
And dinna to us lain,* Oh, wha is aught yon noble steed^ That stands your stable in?"
2 " The steed is mine, and it may be thine.
To ride when ye ride on hie ; But I am sick, and very, very sick, And as sick as I can be.
3 " Then awa, awa, my bauld brethren,
Awa and mak' nae din ; For I am as sick a lady the nicht. As e'er lay a bow'r within."
• " Lein : " to conceal. The word used by Jamieson Is " len," 'which he thus explains ; —"The term 'len' here means to stop or hesitate, and is used in the same sense by Browne in his Britannia's Pastor-als. It seems to be the same with the old English and Scottish ' blin,' to cease or stop."
50 BALLAD MINSTRELSY OF SCOTLAND.
*' Oh, tell us, tell us, May Margaret,
And dinna to us lain, Oh, wha is aught yon noble hawk
That stands your kitchen in?"
" The hawk is mine, and it may be thine, To hawk when ye hawk in hie ;
But I am sick, and very, very sick, And as sick as I can be.
" Then awa, awa, my bauld brethren,
Awa and mak' nae din; I'm ane of the sickest ladies this nicht.
That e'er lay bow'r within."
" Oh, tell us, tell us. May Margaret,
And dinna to us lein, Oh, wha is that, May Margaret,
You and the wall between ? "
" Oh, it is my bow'r-maiden," she says,
" As sick as sick can be ; Oh, it is my bow'r-maiden," she says,
" And she 's thrice as sick as me."
" We ha'e been east, and we've been west,
And low beneath the moon; But all the bow'r-women e'er we saw
Hadna goud bucldes in their shoon."
SWEET WILLIAM'S GHOST.
First printed by Ramsay in the Ten Table Miscellany. Mother- well tumished a second version, under the title of "William and Marjorie," in the Minstrelsy, p. 186 ; and Kinloch a third, imder the title of "Sweet William and May Margaret," in Ancient Scottish Ballads, p. 241.
The present copy is collated from all three, but omits two stanzas, corresponding to stanzas 34 and 35 of " Clerk Saunders " (p. 48), to which they appear properly to belong. These stanzas are given by Eamsay, but are omitted by both Motherwell and Kinloch.
Ramsay's version begins with lines 3 and 4 ; and the stanza is com- jjleted with the following lines : —
" And aye he tirled at the pin, But answer made she nane,"
which, followed as they are by questions almost identical with those propounded in stanza 2 — here printed from Kinloch's version — is manifestly inconsistent.
SWEET WILLIAM'S GHOST, 51
1 As Lady Marg'ret sat in her bow'r,
In her bow'r all alone, There came a ghost to her bow'r door, With many a grievous groan.
2 " Oh, is it my father ? oh, is it my mother ?
Or is it my brother John ? Or is it sweet "William, my ain true love, To Scotland new come home ? "
3 " It is not your father, it is not your mother,
It is not your brother John ; But it is sweet William, your ain true love, To Scotland new come home."
4 " Ha'e ye brought me any fine things,
Any new thing for to wear? Or ha'e ye brought a braid of lace To snood up my gowden hair? "
5 " I've brought ye nae fine things at all.
Nor any new thing to wear, Nor ha'e I brought ye a braid of lace To snood up your gowden hair.
6 " But sweet Marg'ret I 0 dear Marg'ret !
I pray thee, speak to me; Give me my faith and troth, Marg'ret, As I gave it to thee."
7 " Thy faith and troth thou's never get.
Nor will I with thee twin, Till that thou come within my bow'r. And kiss me cheek and chin."
8 " My lips they are sae bitter," he says,
" My breath it is sae Strang; If you get ae kiss of my clay-cauld lips. Your days will not be lang.
9 "0 sweet Marg'ret ! 0 dear Marg'ret!
0 Marg'ret of veritie. Give me my faith and troth again. As I gave them to thee."
10 " Thy faith and troth thou's never get ! Fast to them will I cling. Till yo 1 take me to yonder kirk, And wed me with a rinar."
52 BALLAD MIXSTRELSr OF SCOTLAND.
11 " Do you not see my cheeks, Marg'ret,
Sae sunken and sae wan? Do you not see, my dear Marg'ret, I am nae earthly man ?
12 " My body lies in yon kirkyard,
Close by the rolling sea; And it is but my ghost, Marg'ret, That 's speaking now to thee.
13 " Then sweet Marg'ret! 0 dear Marg'ret !
I pray thee, for charitie. To give me back my faith and troth, As I gave them to thee."
14 " Your faith and troth ye shall not get,
Nor will I twin with thee, Till ye tell me of heaven's joys, Or hell's pains, how they be."
15 " The joys of heaven I wot not of,
The pains of hell I dree; But I hear the cocks begin to craw, Sae I must hence frae thee.
16 " The cocks are crawing, dear Marg'ret,
The cocks are crawing again; The dead must now part frae the quick, And sae I must be gane."
17 No more the ghost to Marg'ret said.
But with a grievous groan Evanished in a cloud of mist, And left her all alone.
18 Now she has kilted her robes of green
A piece below her knee, And all the live-lang winter night The dead corp follow'd she.
19 She follow'd high, she follow'd low,
To yonder kirkyard lone, And there the deep grave open'd up, And William he sank down.
20 " Oh, what three things are these, William,
That stand here at your head ? " " Oh, it 's three maidens, sweet Marg'ret, I promised once to wed."
THE CLERKS OF OXENFORD. 53
22 " Oh, what three things are these, William,
That stand close at your side?" " Oh, it is three babies, Marg'ret, That these three maidens had."
23 " Oh, what three things are these, William,
Thatiye close at your feet?" " Oh, it is three hell-hounds, Marg'ret, Waiting my eaul to keep."
24 Then she 's ta'en up her white, white hand,
And struck him on the breast, " Have there again your faith and troth, And I wish your saul good rest."
THE CLERKS OF OXENFORD.
Abridged, and slightly emendated, from Buchan's Ancient Ballads, &c., voL i., p. 281.
Mr. Buchan (note, p. 319) describes the two clerks as "sons of the Laird of Oxenford," in the county of Mid-Lothian; the place, "Billsbury," as "a famous town, at that time celebrated for its seminaries of learning;" and the period, to " have been in the time of the feudal law. "
Mr. Chambers prints the ballad under the title of " The Clerk's Twa Sons o' Owsenford — Part First," Scottish Ballads, p. 345, and states it to be "chiefly taken from the recitation of the editor's grand- mother (who learned it, when a girl, nearly seventy years ago [about 1760], from Miss Anne Gray, resident at Neidpath Castle, Peebleshire) ; some additional stanzas, and a few various readings, being adopted from a less perfect, and far less poetical copy, published in Mr. Buchan' s Aticknt and Modern Ballads." The reader may, however, be surprised to learn that the ballad, as given by Mr. Chambers, is almost identical with the stanzas here given from Mr. Buchan's ballad ; but the scene of the tragedy is transferred by him from "Billsbury" to "Parish," or, as he notes it, "Paris," — which latter is not, however, within a day's journey or sail of Oxen- ford, in Mid-Lothian. Oxenford gave the title of Viscount — now dormant — to one of the Macgill family, in the reign of Charles IL It is now a seat of the Earl of Stair.
Mr. Chambers's "Second Part" contains two stanzas slightly altered from Mr. Buchan's ballad ; the others, with the exception of two or three additional stanzas, being almost identical with "The Wife of Usher's Well," first published in Scott's Minstrelsy.
The ballads thus united were regarded by Professor Aytoun — Ballads of Scotland, vol. i., p. 116— as quite distinct; and even Mr. Chambers virtually admits it, when he refers to "the great
54 BALLAD MINSTRELSY OF SCOTLAND.
superiority of what follows over what goes before" — i.e., of "Part Second" over " Part First;" and to " the latter portion as in a great measure independent of the other.'" The extracts are quoted in italics as given by Professor Child, English and Scottish Ballads, vol. ii., p. 63; the last-named editor adding his opinion, " that the two parts originally had no connection, [but] were arbitrarily united, to suit the purposes of some unscrupulous rhapsodist. " He also mentions that "there is to a certain extent a resemblance between this ballad and the German ballad, ' Das Schloss in Oesterrich,' found in most of the German collections, and in Swedish and Danish."
1 I WILL sing to you a waeful sang,
Will grieve your heart full sair, How the twa bonnie clerks of Oxenford Went aff to learn their lear.
2 Their father loved them very weel,
Their mother meikle mair, And they sent them on to Billsbury To learn deeper lear.
3 They hadna been in Billsbury
A twelvemonth and a day, Till the mayor's twa daughters of Billsbury On them their loves did lay,
4 And aye as the twa clerks sat and wrote,
The ladies sew'd and sang; There was mair mirth in that chamber Than in all Ferrol's land.
5 But word has gane to the haughty mayor,
As o'er his lands he rade, That the twa bonnie clerks of Oxenford His daughters had betray'd.
6 " Oh, have they betray'd my daughters dear,
The heirs of all my land ? Then the morn, ere I eat or drink, I'll hang them with my hand."
7 Then he has ta'en the twa bonnie clerks,
Bound them frae tap to tae, Till the reddest bluid within their veins Out o'er their nails did gae.
8 Then word has gane to Oxenford,
Frae the clerks in prison Strang,
That ere the morn at twelve o'clock,
The mayor he would them hang.
THE CLERKS OF OXENFORD. 55
9 Then up spake Lady Oxenford, While tears fell fast and free — " O husband, take good store of gold, And let them borrow'd be.
10 " 0 husband, take good store of gold,
And bring them back with thee ; But if you get not hynde Henry, Bring Gilbert hame to me."
11 Out then spake auld Oxenford,
A waeful man was he — " Youf strange wish it does me surprise, They are baith alike to me."
12 Oh, sweetly sang the nightingale,
As she sat on the wand; But sair, sair mourn'd Oxenford, As he gaed to the strand.
13 When he came to the prison Strang,
He rade it round about. And at a little shot-window His sons were looking out.
14 " Oh, lye ye there, my sons," he said,
" For oxen or for kye? Or for a cast of dear-bought love. Do ye in prison lye ? "
15 " We lye not here, father," they said,
" For oxen or for kye ; But for a cast of dear-bought love, We are condemned to die."
16 " Oh, borrow us, borrow us, father,
For the love we bear to thee ! " " Oh, never fear, my bonnie sons, Weel borrow'd ye shall be."
17 Then he has gane to the haughty mayor,
And hail'd him courteouslie — " Good day, good day, good Billsbury, God make you safe and free !
18 " Good day, good day, good Billsbury,
A boon I crave frae thee." Come, sit ye down, brave Oxenford, What is your will with me ? "
56 BALLAD MINSTRELST OF SCOTLAND.
19 " Will ye gi'e me my sons again,
For gold or yet for fee? Will ye gi'e me my sons again For's sake that died on tree? "
20 " I winna gi'e ye your sons again,
For gold nor yet for fee; But if ye stay a little while, Ye'U see them baith hang'd hie."
21 In then came the mayor's daughters,
With kirtle, coat alone; Their eyes they sparkled like the gold. As they trjpp'd o'er the stone,
22 " Oh, will ye gi'e us our loves, father,
For gold or yet for fee? Or will ye take our own sweet lives, And let our true loves be ? "
23 He 's ta'en a whip into his hand,
And lash'd them wondrous sair ; " Gae to your bow'rs, ye vile lemans, Ye'U never see them mair."
24 Then out and spake auld Oxenford,
A waeful man was he — " Gang to your bow'rs, ye lily flowers, For, oh, this maunna be."
25 Then out and spake him hynde Henrie—
" Come here, Janet, to me ; Will ye gi'e me ray faith and troth, And love, as I gave thee? "
26 " Oh, ye shall ha'e your faith and troth.
With God's blessing and mine ! " And twenty times she kiss'd his mouth. Her father looking on,
27 Then out and spake him gay Gilbert —
"Come here, Marg'ret, to me; Will ye gi'e me my faith and troth, And love, as I gave thee ? "
28 " Yes, ye shall get your faith and troth.
With God's blessing and mine !" And twenty times she kiss'd his mouth. Her father looking on.
THE WIFE OF USHEE'S WELL. 57
29 " Ye'll take aff your twa black hats,
And lay them on that stone, That naue may ken that ye are clerks When ye are putten down."
30 The boqnie clerks they died that mom,
Their loves died lang ere noon ; And baith their fathers and mothers died For sorrow very soon.
31 Six of the souls went up to heaven,
(I wish sae may we a' !) But the cruel mayor went down to hell, Forjudging unjust law.
THE WIFE OF USHEE'S WELL.
From Scott's Minstrelsy, vol. ill., p. 258.
Stanza 4 is adapted from Buchan's ballad, "The Clerks of Oxen- ford;" and stanza 5 from Chambers's ballad, " The Clerk's Twa Sons o' Owsenford — Part Second."
The explanatory notes [marked S.] are from the pen of Sir Walter Scott.
1 There lived a wife at Usher's Well,
And a wealthy wife was she ; She had three stout and stalwart sons, And sent them o'er the sea.
2 They hadna been a week from her,
A week but barely ane, When word came back to the carline wife, That her three sons were gane.
3 They hadna been a week from her,
A week but barely three, When word came to the carline wife, That her sons she'd never see :
4 That they were learning a deeper lear.
And at a higher schule; But them she wou'd never see again. On the holy days of Yule.
58 BALLAD MINSTRELSY OF SCOTLAND.
" I wish the wind may never cease,*
Nor fishes f in the flood, Till my three sons come hame to me
In earthly flesh and blood."
It fell about the Martinmas, When nights are lang and mirk,
The carline wife's three sons came hame, And their hats were of the birk.
It neither grew in syke nor ditch,
Nor yet in ony sheugh; But at the gates of Paradise
That birk grew fair eneuch.;}:
8 " Blow up the fire, my maidens, and Bring water from the well ; For all my house shall feast this night, Since my three sons are well.
y " Oh, eat and drink, my merry men all. The better shall ye fare ; For my three sons they are come hame To me for evermair."
10 And she has made to them a bed, She 's made it large and wide ; And she 's ta'en her mantle her about. Sat down at the bedside.
11 Up then crew the red, red cock,
And up and crew the gray; The eldest to the youngest said — " 'Tis time we were away."
12 The cock he hadna craw'd but ance,
At dawning of the day. When the eldest to the youngest said — " Brother, we must away."
• The sense of this verse is obscure, owing probably to cormption by reciters. [S.J
t Subsequent editors have changed " fishes " to " fashes," "freshes," and "freshets."
J The notion, that the souls of the blessed wear garlands, seems to be of Jewish origin. At least, in the " Maase-book," there is a Eabbinical tradition to that effect— See Jeurish Traditions, abridgeiifrom Buxtor/, London, 1732, voL ii., p. 19. [S.
LEESOME BRAND. 59
13 " The cock doth ciaw, the day doth daw.
The channerin'* worm doth chide; If we be miss'd out of our place, A sair pain we maun bide.f
14 " Then fare ye weel, my mother dearl
Fareweel to bam and byre ! And fare ye weel, the bonnie lass That kindles my mother's fire !"
LEESOME BRAND.
From Buchan's Ancient Ballads and Songs, vol. i., p. 41 ; with the exception of verse 2, which is inserted from a kindred portion of "The Brave Earl Brand and the King of England's Daughter," p. 32.
Stanza 1 describes '* an unco," or wonderful " land," bearing some resemblance to the " better land," or " oe." —i. e., island — of " Eibolt and Guldborg," as described in stanzas 3 to 9 inclusive, of the version translated by Jamieson.
Stanzas 3 to 8 inclusive, represent ten stanzas of the original, here abridged to avoid repetition and some objectionable details. These stanzas bear some resemblance to, but are more ample in narrative than, the portion of " The Brave Earl Brand," &c., above referred to.
The succeeding seven stanzas are omitted entirely, because tbey merely represent — and that in a very corrupt form — several stanzas of " Herr Medelvold," and similar Danish and Swedish ballads.
In the Scandinavian ballad, the hero takes his lady's gold em- broidered shoe, and hastes to a distant rill in search of water to quench her thirst ; but when he reaches it, two nightingales sing to him of the death of the lady and her two new-born infants. He returns ; finds them dead ; buries them ; fixes his sword against a tree or stone, and drives the blade through his heart. Two versions of this ballad— "Sir Wal and Lisa Lyle," and "Fair Midel and Kirsten Lyle " — as translated by Jamieson, appear in Illustrations of Northern Antiquities, p. 373 and p. 377.
In the omitted stanzas of Buchan's ballad, the hero is an3i;hing but gallant. He is asked by the lad}' to leave her alone — to take his "bow," and go to "hunt the deer and roe," but not to touch " the white hynde." He obeys only too willingly, and quite forgets his lady until reminded by the passing of a "milk-white hynde," when he returns and finds her "lying dead," with her "young son at
* "Channerin':" fretting. [S.]
t This will remind the German readei of the comic adieu of a heavenly apparition : —
" Doch Bieh! man schliesst die himmels thflr; Adieu! der himmUsche Portier 1st strengund hiilt auf ordnung."— ^Jumauer. [S.]
60 BALLAD MINSTRELSY OF SCOTLAND.
her head." Stanzas somewhat analogous to those described occur also in two ballads which immediately follow — viz., "The Earl of Douglas and Lady Oliphant," and "Sweet Willie and Fair Janet."
Part IL narrates the sequel, of which stanza 9 is common ballad property; while stanzas 10 to 14 are almost identical with four stanzas of a ballad in Motherwell's Minstrelsy (p. 189), under the title of "The Broom blooms Bonnie and says it is Fair," which four stanzas follow the present ballad, and are all of Motherwell's ballad that are considered to be fit for publication in this coUection.
The four or five concluding stanzas of "Leesome Brand" appear to be the only original stanzas it contains.
Part I.
1 My boy was scarcely ten years auld,
When he went to an unco land, Where wind never blew, nor cocks ever crew, Ohon! for my son, Leesome Brand.
2 Oh, did you ever hear of brave Leesome Brand?
Hey lillie, ho lillie lallie; He courted the king's daughter of fair England, In the brave nights so early.
3 Awa to that king's court he went,
It was to serve for meat and fee; Gude red gowd it was his hire,
And lang in that king's court stay'd he.
4 He hadna been in that king's court,
But only twellmonths twa or three, Till by the glancing of his e'e,
He gain'd the love of a gay ladye.
5 This ladye was scarce fifteen years auld, When on her love she was right bauld; To Leesome Brand she then did say —
" In this place I can nae mair stay.
6 " Ye do you to my father's stable,
Where steeds do stand both wight and able; Get ane for you, another for me, And let us ride out o'er the lea.
" Ye do you to my mother's coffer, And out of it ye'll take my tocher ; Therein are sixty thousand pounds, Which all to me by right belongs."
LEESOME BRAND. 61
8 He 's done him to her father's stable,
And waled twa steeds baith wight and able ; He 's done him to her mother's coffer, And there he 's ta'en his lover's tocher.
Part II.
9 His mother lay o'er her castle wall.
And she beheld baith dale and down; And she beheld young Leesome Brand, As he came riding to the town.
10 " Get minstrels for to play," she said,
" And dancers to dance in my room;
For here comes my son, Leesome Brand,
And he comes merrilie to the town."
11 " Seek nae minstrels to play, mother,
Nor dancers to dance in your room; But tho' your son comes, Leesome Brand, Yet he comes sorry to the town.
12 " Oh, I ha'e lost my gowden knife,
I rather had lost my ain sweet life; And I ha'e lost a better thing, The gilded sheath that it was in."
13 " Are there nae gowdsmiths here in Fife
Can make to you another knife ? Are there nae sheath-makers in the land Can make a sheath to Leesome Brand? "
14 " There are nae gowdsmiths here in Fife
Can make me sic a gowden knife; Nor nae sheath-makers in the land Can make me sic a sheath again.
15 " There ne'er was man in Scotland bom,
Ordain'd to be so much forlorn ; I've lost my ladye I lov'd sae dear. Likewise the son she did me bear."
16 " Put in your hand at my bed head.
There ye'll find a gude gray horn; In it three draps of Saint Paul's ain bluid, That ha'e been there since he was born.
17 *' Drap twa of them on your ladye,
And ane upon your new-born son; Then as lively they baith will be
As the first night ye brought them hame."
62 BALLAD MINSTRELSY OF SCOTLAND.
18 He put his hand at her bed head,
And there he found a gude gray horn,
With three draps of Saint Paul's ain bluid,
That had been there since he was born.
19 Then he drapp'd twa on his ladye,
And ane of them on his young son ; And now they do as lively be,
As the first day he brought them hame.
THE BROOM BLOOMS BONNIE AND SAYS IT IS FAIR.
From Motherwell's Minstrelsy, p. 191. See introduction to pre- ceding ballad, p. 59.
The complete ballad is one of a class which, following the judicious example of Professor Child, are excluded from this collection, on account of the revolting nature of their theme. The other ballads of the class referred to are —
"Lizie Wan," Herd, vol. i., p. 91.
"The Bonnie Hynd," Scott's Minstrelsy, vol. iii., p. 307.
" Castle Ha's Daughter," Buchan, vol. i., p. 241.
" Bold Burnett's Daughter " (which is merely referred to by Buchan in his note, vol. i., p. 315), and "Lady Jean," a stanza of which is given by Motherwell, Appendix, p. xxi., note to music, xxiii.
1 When Willie came hame to his father's court hall —
The broom blooms bonnie and says it is fair ; There was music and minstrels and dancing 'mangthem all — But he'll never gang down to the broom onie mair.
2 " 0 Willie ! 0 Willie ! what makes thee in pain ? "—
• The broom blooms bonnie and says it is fair ; " I have lost a sheath and knife that I'll never see again — • For we'll never gang down to the broom onie mair."
3 " There are ships of your father's sailing on the sea '' —
The broom blooms bonnie and says it is fair ; " That will bring as good a sheath and a knife unto thee — And we'll never gang down to the broom onie mair."
4 " There are ships of my father's sailing on the sea " —
The broom blooms bonnie and says it is fair ; " But sic a sheath and knife they can never bring to me — Now we'll never gang down to the broom onie mair."
THE EARL OF DOUGLAS. 63
THE EAKL OF DOUGLAS AND DAME OLIPHANT.
Abridged from Buchan's Ancient Ballads, vol. ii., p. 181.
It is probable that the name of the heroine, in place of " Oliphant " — which is a family surname, and not a lady's Christian name — should read " Eleanor," and that the ballad may relate to the second marriage of "William de Douglas, denominated the Hardy;" of the circum- stances attending which marriage, we have the following account : —
"His second wife appears to have been Eleanor, relect of William Ferrers of Groby, in the county of Leicester, a younger son of William Earl Derby. This William Ferrers died 1287-8, leaving Eleanor, his second wife, surviving ; and she going to Scotland to obtain her dowry of such lands as by her husband belonged to her, being at Travernent [Tranent], the manor-house of Helen [or Allan] la Zuche [or Suche], in that realm, William de Douglas, in a hostile manner, took her thence against her will, and carried her to another place ; of which complaint being made to King Edward I., he sent his precept to the Sheriff of Northumberland, to sieze upon all the goods and chattels of the said William de Douglas, which then were in his bailiwick. But in 1290-1, in consideration of £100 hne, the king granted to William de Douglas the benefit of her marriage." And in a note we are further " informed, that in a MS. collection of English records, the second wife of William Ferrers, who died 16th Edward I., is stated to have been Comitissa de Fife, in Scotia, vidua Colbani et mater Macduffi, Comitum de Fife. " — Douglas's Peerage of Scotland, second edition, edited by J. P. Wood, vol. i., p. 420.
The baUad resembles in some respects both " Leesome Brand" and the ballad which follows this.
1 Willie was an earl's ae son,
An earl's ae son was he ; And he is on to fair England, To serve for meat and fee.
2 But it was not for meat and fee
That Willie hied him there ; But for his love to Oliphant, Of beauty bright and rare.
3 Now, it fell ance upon a day,
That Oliphant thought lang; And she went on to good greenwood, As fast as she cou'd gang.
4 Willie he stood in his chamber door,
In a love-musing mood, And spy'd fair Lady Oliphant, As she hied to the wood.
64 BALLAD MINSTRELSY OF SCOTLAND.
5 He took his bow and arrows keen,
His sword baith braid and lang ; And he is on to good greenwood, As fast as he cou'd gang.
6 And there he found fair Oliphant,
Asleep beneath a tree ; But up she started at his step, And thus in fear cry'd she :
7 " Hold away from me, young man,
Hold far away from me ; I fear you are some false young knight. Beguiles young ladies free."
8 "I am not such a false young knight
As you fear me to be ; I am young Willie of Douglas-dale, And dearly I love thee."
9 " If you are Willie of Douglas-dale,
Your love is dear to me, For oft I think, and in my sleep Full oft I dream of thee."
10 But the cocks they crew, and the horns blew,
And herds lowed on the hill ; And Willie he hied him back again. Unto his daily toil.
11 Sae likewise did fair Oliphant,
To her book and her seam ; But little she read, and little she sewed. For love was her day-dream.
12 Then it fell ance upon a night,
Young Willie he thought lang ; And he went on to Oliphant's bow'r, As fast as he cou'd gang.
13 " Oh, are you asleep, fair Oliphant?
Oh, are you asleep ? " cried he ; " Oh, waken, waken. Oliphant, Oh, waken and speak to me."
14 " Oh, much I do fear me, dear Willie,
Oh, much I fear," said she ; " If my father or his knights do hear, By them you slain shall be."
THE EARL OF DOUGLAS. . 65
15 " 0 Oliphant, dear Oliphant,
A king's daughter are ye ; But would you leave your father's court, To live and die with me? "
16 " Oh,, I would leave my father's court,
Let weal or woe betide ; For I could range the warld o'er, If you were by my side."
17 She took a web of scarlet cloth,
And tore it fine and small ; Then plaited it both long and strong, To let her down the wall.
18 She lower'd herself in Willie's arms,
Adown the castle wall ; And Willie was wight and well able To save her from a fall.
19 But the cocks they crew, and the horns blew,
And herds low'd on the hill, As Willie's lady follow'd him Tho' her tears trickl'd still.
20 They lived together in good greenwood
Some nine months and a day, When Willie to fair Oliphant Thus lovingly did say :
21 " Oh, want ye ribbons to your hair,
Or roses to your shoon? Or want ye chains about your neck? You'll get mair when they're done.**
22 " I want not ribbons to my hair,
Nor roses to my shoon ; And there are mair chains about my neck? Than ever I'll see done."
23 " Will ye gae to the cards or dice?
Or to the table play? Or to a bed sae well down-spread. And sleep till it be day?"
24 " I've mair need of the rodens, Willie,
That grow on yonder thorn ; Likewise a drink of spring water, Out of your grass-green horn. F
66 BALLAD MINSTRELSY OF SCOTLAND.
25 " I've mair need of a fire, Willie,
To heat my sbivering frame ; Likewise a glass of good red wine, Ere your young son come hame."
26 He got a bush of rodens till her.
That grew on yonder thorn ;
Likewise a drink of spring water,
Out of his grass-green horn.
27 He carried the match in his pocket.
That kindled to her the fire, Well set about with oaken spails, That leam'd o'er Lincolnshire.
28 And he has brought to his lady
A glass of good red wine ; And he has likewise brought to her A loaf of white bread fine.
29 The milk that he milk'd frae the goats.
He fed his young son on ; Thus he did tend and serve them baith, In greenwood all alone.
SO Till it fell ance upon a day, Fair Oliphant did plaine : " Oh, if you have a place, Willie, I pray you have me hame."
31 He took his young son in his arms.
When Oliphant grew Strang; And they went on through good greenwood, As fast as they cou'd gang.
32 They journey'd on through good greenwood,
They journey'd northward on,
Till they came to a shepherd May,
Was feeding her flocks alone.
33 The lady said — " My bonnie May,
If you will come with me. And carry my young son in your arras, Kewarded you will be.
34 " The gowns were shapen for my wear,
They shall be sewed for thee, And you will get a braw Scotsman Your husband for to be."
SWEET WILLIE AND FAIR JANET. G7
35 When they came on to Willie's yetts,
Beyond the Solway sea, The news of their arrival spread Like wild fire o'er the lea.
36 Then many a stout and stalwart knight,
And many a stately dame, The lord and lady of Douglas-dale With joy did welcome hame.
37 And many a bold and warlike youth,
And many a maiden fair, The lord and lady of Douglas-dale Right gaily welcomed there.
38 The bonnie May they brought with them,
She got a braw Scots man ; And the children that her lady bare,. She nursed them every one.
39 Earl Willie and fair Oliphant
Lang happy lived, I ween. Ere in the kirk of sweet Saint Brid« Their graves grew iresh and green.
SWEET WILLIE AND FAIR JANET.
The works in which, and the titles under which, versions of this ballad have appeared, are —
L Herd, vol. L, p. 162; under the title of "Willie and
Annet." II. Finlay, vol. ii., p. 61 ; under the title of " Sweet Willie," where it is said to be made up from different copies and fragments. It contains eleven stanzas, taken verbally from Herd's version, live slightly different, leaves out three, and adds ten.
III. Sharpe's Ballad Book, p. 1 ; under the title of " Fair
Janet." " Is printed as it was sung by an old woman in Perthshire. The air is extremely beautiful." — C. K. S.
IV. Buchan, vol. i,, p. 97 ; under the title of " Sweet Willie and
Fair Maisry." Mr. Buchan states that "Mr. Findlay," notwithstanding " all his painful industry, came far short